The throne split apart with a deafening crack. Roots twisted and snapped as something enormous pulled itself free.The Gardener’s beast was not one form. There were many. Arms of stone. Wings of bone. Faces screaming across its chest. A tail made of roots and fire that whipped across the sky.The beast rose higher and higher until its head scraped the dome of green light above them. Its eyes burned like black suns, and every breath it exhaled sent waves of death across the ground.Kai and Amara stood small beneath it. Their light was bright, but it looked fragile compared to the endless size of the monster.The Gardener’s voice echoed from inside the beast, deep and broken. “This is eternity. This is what you cannot kill. This is every life, every soul, every failure. You will drown in it.”The beast roared, shaking the whole world. Kai’s chest felt like it would burst. The sheer weight of the beast’s presence pressed on him like a mountain. His sword trembled in his hand.Amara’s glo

Darkness swallowed everything. Kai’s scream echoed through the cavern until it became a ragged breath. His knees hit the stone floor, his sword fell from his grip, and his hands clawed at his chest as if he could tear the roots out himself, but they were inside him now.They writhed through his veins, burning, twisting, digging deeper. His vision flickered between black fire and blinding light.He felt himself splitting. Half of him fought to stay. Half of him wanted to let go.“Kai!” Amara’s voice was sharp, broken. She knelt beside him, pressing glowing hands against his chest, trying to burn the roots away with her light.But the roots hissed and curled tighter, drinking her glow instead of fleeing. Her face twisted in horror. “No… no, no, no. Stay with me, Kai. Don’t let him in.”Kai tried to answer, but his mouth filled with blood. His eyes rolled back, and for a moment, Amara saw not Kai’s eyes, but the Gardener’s, cold, endless, ancient.She pulled him into her arms, holding h

Amara woke with her chest burning, her body lying on rough stone. Her glow had dimmed, flickering faint like a dying ember. She coughed hard, spitting dust from her lungs, and forced herself to sit up. The world around her was not the cavern anymore.She was in a vast hollow chamber, lit only by faint cracks of red light leaking through the stone walls. The air smelled of ash and rot, and the ground trembled as if something deep below still breathed.Her heart raced. “Kai?” she whispered. Her voice echoed. No answer.Her eyes darted around. No Lira. No Darius. No Kevin. She was alone. A cold fear settled in her stomach.Amara pressed her hand against her chest, trying to steady her breathing. She forced herself to stand, her legs shaking. The chamber stretched endlessly, with roots crawling along the walls like veins. Some twitched as if alive, others dripped with black sap that hissed when it touched the floor.She swallowed hard. Her first thought was Kai. His face. His scream. T

The silence after the clash was heavy. The abyss no longer roared. The storm of roots had vanished. The red cracks in the walls had dimmed, leaving only faint flickers of glow, and Kai stood alone.His chest rose and fell in ragged breaths. His sword hung limply in his hand, cracked, almost useless. His body shook from exhaustion, every muscle screaming, but none of that mattered, because Amara was gone. He spun, his eyes wild, searching the endless cavern. “Amara!”His voice echoed, bouncing back against the walls. No answer.He staggered forward, stumbling over broken roots and cracked stone. His hands scraped the floor as he fell to his knees. “No. No, no, no.”His voice broke. “You can’t leave me. Not now. Not after, ” His throat closed. He squeezed his eyes shut, tears forcing their way out. He pressed his fist to the ground, trembling. “Amara.”A faint chuckle rippled through the abyss. Kai froze. His head snapped up, eyes blazing.The Gardener’s voice seeped from the walls, l

Kai’s arms shook as he raised the sword above Amara’s cocoon. His breath came heavy, ragged. The air around him pulsed with the Gardener’s whispers. “Strike, heir. Set her free. Lose yourself.”The cocoon writhed as if alive. Black sap dripped down its roots, hissing when it touched the ground. The air stank of rot and fire.Inside, Amara’s pale face was pressed against the translucent walls. Her hair floated as if she were underwater. Her eyes flickered faintly, half open, glowing dim with life. “Kai…” her weak voice trembled. “If you love me… don’t set me free.”The words stabbed his chest like knives. His hands shook harder. “What do you mean?” His voice cracked. “I came for you. I can’t leave you here.”Her lips moved slowly, painfully. “I… am part of him now. If you cut me free… he will come with me.”Kai froze, the weight of her words sinking in. “No…” He shook his head fiercely. “That’s a lie. That’s just him twisting you.”But her faint smile was pained, sad. “I can feel him