Everett woke to pain. It burned through every vein, every crack in his skin, every breath. His body trembled as if still caught inside the explosion. His ears rang with silence so loud it felt like screaming. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The fractured plain was gone. Or perhaps it had only changed again.Crystal spires lay shattered, their glowing veins spilling across the ground like rivers of fire. Towers leaned sideways, broken in half, their ruins dangling in the air as though gravity had forgotten its work. The sky was darker now, split by jagged lines of green, the cracks pulsing with light. Everett groaned, forcing himself onto his knees. His chains dragged behind him, glowing faintly, sparks falling like dying stars. He pressed a trembling hand to his chest, feeling the deep thrum of the heart still inside him, then memory slammed into him. Kael.The boy’s scream. His glowing eyes. The explosion that swallowed everything. Everett’s head snapped up. His voice cracked, desper

The fractured plain shook like it was alive. Crystal spires tore upward, breaking into the sky. Shards swirled in violent circles, cutting through stone and flesh alike. At the center floated Kael, his small frame glowing with light too vast for him, his voice carrying like thunder. “I am not Kael. I am the heart.”Everett’s chest ached at the words. His tears cut hot lines down his face, his chains writhing at his sides. His voice broke as he shouted through the storm. “You’re Kael! You’re my family! I won’t let them take you from me!”Kael’s glowing eyes narrowed. His hands rose. The storm surged. A wave of shards crashed toward Everett, spinning like blades. He lashed his chains forward, smashing through them, his fire blazing around him. Sparks rained, blood splattered, stone cracked, but for every shard he broke, ten more formed, then the factions moved.Varik’s soldiers fired in unison, their rifles glowing with green veins. Their bolts streaked through the storm, aimed at Ka

The silence after the shockwave was heavy, but it did not last. Kael stood in the ruins, his small body glowing brighter than the shards scattered across the plain. His veins pulsed with crystal light, steady and sharp, his eyes no longer flickering between boy and heart. They burned with a calm, alien fire.Everett’s chains trembled at his sides. His body split with cracks that bled light, his breath shallow, his chest heavy. Yet his voice rose, broken but fierce. “Kael… it’s still you. It has to be you.”The boy tilted his head, as if considering the words. His lips parted, but his voice carried no warmth. “I am not a boy. I am not heart. I am something new.”The ground cracked beneath his feet. Shards trembled in the air, not spinning wild, but moving in precise, deliberate patterns. A storm no longer. A design. Everett’s eyes widened. “Kael… what are you becoming?”Kael’s gaze fixed on him. “What you made me.”From the ruins, the factions stirred. Varik limped forward, his coat t

Varik’s blade gleamed in the broken light. Everett’s chest heaved, his chains rattling faintly at his sides. He tried to lift them, to strike, but his body trembled from the weight of the bond. His breath came shallow, his vision blurred.Varik’s calm voice cut through the battlefield. “You’ve left me no choice, Everett Lang. The boy is untouchable. But you… you are fragile. And through you, so is he.”He lunged. The crystal blade slashed across Everett’s shoulder. The pain seared deep, splitting his skin, blood spilling. Everett staggered back, teeth clenched, then froze as he felt it. Not just his pain. Kael’s.The boy gasped, his small body jerking as if struck by the same blade. His glowing hand clutched his shoulder, shards faltering around him. His voice hissed sharp. “Everett… stop… you’re hurting me.”Everett’s heart was wrenched. His chains lashed out wildly, striking Varik back in fury. Sparks and fire burst across the ruined plain. His voice cracked into a raw scream. “Th

Everett’s chest burned like it was tearing apart from the inside. The chains between him and Kael pulsed violently, brighter than fire, sharper than shards. The boy’s small body shook, his glowing hands pressed against the bind, trying to rip it apart, then everything split.Everett staggered as the battlefield vanished, the screams of Varik’s soldiers and the Shroud fading into silence. Fire roared around him, mixing with crystal shards that spun in endless circles. Above, no sky, only storm, black and bright at once.He gasped, clutching his chest, his chains rattling faintly. “What… what is this place?”A voice answered, calm and sharp. “It’s the bond. Our prison.”Everett turned. Kael stood a few feet away, his small frame glowing, his eyes burning steady like crystal torches. But this Kael wasn’t the trembling boy who had whispered his name. This Kael stood firm, shards orbiting around him in perfect patterns. Everett’s throat tightened. His voice cracked. “Kael.”The boy’s ey