The earth had been rent asunder.The heavens had cracked open.But now, in the aftermath of the battle, there was a stillness.A calm that seemed almost unnatural, as though the world itself had been holding its breath, waiting for this moment. Helena stood alone at the edge of the ruins, her hand pressed to the cool stone of what had once been a great wall, now reduced to rubble.Her fingers traced the cracks, as if seeking some sign that the world she once knew was still there, beneath the destruction.She closed her eyes, taking a slow, deep breath, and the weight of everything they had lost pressed down on her chest. She thought of the faces they had seen fall, the countless souls who had given their lives to this war. Friends. Strangers. Heroes.She thought of the world that had been swallowed by darkness, of the innocence that had been torn away.The battle had taken everything.And yet… A whisper of wind brushed her cheek, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she

The world had shattered.Or at least it felt that way.Helen’s body fell to the frozen, pockmarked ground, shaking her bones upon impact.The dark was alive, writhing, shoving tight against her skin, like a strangling fog. For a moment, she could only gasp, her lungs against obliterating weight.Then Alex’s voice.“Helena!”She strained her eyes open to just catch sight of him raising himself, blood wheeling from a gash over his brow. His hand still gripped his sword, its silver edge dull in darting shadows.And then she saw him.Cain.Or whatever he had become.He hung over the gap, cloaked in swirling blackness; his burning eyes, whether amused or pitying, were trained on them. The black mist swirling around his feet writhed outward and consumed the remnants of the destruction it had wrought.“You feel it, don’t you?” There was a smooth, almost soft quality to Cain’s voice. “The weight of it all? Is the truth lapping into your bones? ”Alex rose, standing stock-still in the madness.

The world had changed.It was something Alex knew in the air the moment he and Helena returned to reality. The Veil had vomited them into the ruins of the last great city, but they had not discovered the same place they had departed.Now, the same sky that had cleared after the war was pregnant with storm clouds blacker than the bottom of any abyss. It was as if the air around them was too too thick for the atmosphere, pressing in on their chests, both from the horror that had coalesced out of nothingness, and the anguish screaming in their veins, and some force that made no physical sense. And far above above the shattered blocks of towers and streets there was a monolith of dark a rampart that had never existed.A throne for Cain.Helena exhaled sharply. “He’s already begun.”Alex said nothing. His jaw clenched as he stared at the distant stronghold. He could sense Cain lurking there — more powerful than he had ever been, choking, unnatural.The Keeper had been right.The war had ne

The ruins became stained with blood. It bled like a pair of morbid tears from beneath Alex’s body, cool and slick upon the broken stone.His breath sounded hollow.Each inhale was sharp; each exhale was softer than the previous.The blade of shadow that had killed him had long ago dissipated, leaving just his corpse as evidence of its presence. His wound was jagged and vast, the algid maw yawning over his dying essence.Helena’s hands shook as she placed them on his chest, pressing down against the crimson malevolence in an attempt to halt its flow.However, when she pulled away, her hands were coated in blood.“No,” she whispered, terror infesting her voice.“No, no, no, no, you can’t leave me.”Alex’s eyes drifted open, the flags of the iris bleary and unfocused.“Helena…,” he wheezed. Helena’s eyes burned with tears.“You’ll be fine.” She genuinely had no idea whether or not she thought that.Cain stood several feet apart, a spectator to her torment. She didn’t know why he didn’t h

Everything snapped back into focus around Helena, breath fast and shallow.Her knees met the fighting ground, the shock of impact shaking through her body. Even now, her bones felt scraped and tumbled, that her soul hadn’t arrived yet to address.For a long moment, she stilled.Didn’t dare move.Then.Then a cough beside her, sonorous, ragged.Cain.Helena turned her head. He was sprawled on the floor, silver eyes half-closed, body thin. He had been trapped by the blackness, who knows how many years before, becoming more than man had fled. He was mortal now, vulnerable.She was supposed to be feeling triumphant.All she felt instead was the weight of what had just happened.Rejuvenated by the Firstborn.But only after signaling their intentions."You have made your choice."It wasn’t a warning.It was a promise.Helena curled her hands into fists. She had refused the throne. Could not be what they had made of Cain. But deep down, she knew.This war was far from over.And now, she had