CHAPTER 1509: STORY 1509: THE WHISPERING SHARD

The forest, though silent in the titan’s absence, felt no less suffocating. The shard’s glow pulsed like a malignant heartbeat, sending ripples of crimson mist slithering between the trees. Each throb carried whispers, faint but unmistakable—thousands of broken voices murmuring in unison.

Kael steadied himself, gripping his sword tighter. Every instinct screamed at him to crush the shard where it lay, but his body trembled with exhaustion. The battle had drained more than just his strength; it had carved deep into his spirit.

Elara stepped closer, eyes locked on the shard. Her fire sputtered weakly in her palm, no longer the roaring flame it had been moments before. “It’s... calling them. Every corpse in the ground, every shadow in this cursed land—it’s reaching for them.”

Kael’s jaw clenched. “Then we can’t leave it here.”

Before Elara could answer, the earth split around the shard. Skeletal hands burst forth, clawing desperately, dragging half-formed corpses into the open. These weren’t like the shambling dead they had faced before—these were hollow, twisted things, their bodies warped by the shard’s energy. They hissed like broken flutes, eyes glowing with the same crimson light.

“Elara, behind me!” Kael barked, forcing his battered body into motion. He swung his blade, cleaving through the first of the creatures. It shattered like brittle glass, fragments scattering into the mist. But more followed, rising in droves, each drawn by the shard’s pulse.

Elara loosed a burst of flame, incinerating a cluster, but her strength faltered. The fire flickered, then died altogether. She staggered, clutching her chest. “I... I can’t. Not again.”

Kael shoved her back, cutting down another wave of creatures. Sweat and blood mingled on his face, his arms trembling with each strike. The shard pulsed faster now, as though feeding on the battle itself. The whispers grew louder, almost coherent. Words pressed against the edges of Kael’s mind. Join us... become us... eternity awaits...

He gritted his teeth, shaking his head violently. “Shut up!” His sword blazed faintly, the last remnants of Elara’s fire still clinging to its steel. “You won’t have me.”

The ground quaked, and the shard began to rise, lifting into the air. Its light intensified, projecting a phantom form above it—a shadowy figure cloaked in smoke, eyes burning with malice. The master’s voice rolled from it, cold and triumphant.

“You think you’ve won a victory? You’ve only unchained me further. Every blow you strike, every corpse you burn, adds to my dominion.”

Elara forced herself to her feet, glaring at the apparition. “If you want us, you’ll have to take us yourself.”

The phantom chuckled, a sound that slithered through their bones. “In time. For now, let the shard be my hand.”

The hovering crystal erupted with a surge of energy. The lesser undead disintegrated, their remains twisting upward, merging into a new form—a knight of bone and shadow, wielding a blade of crimson flame. Its hollow eyes locked on Kael and Elara, and it stepped forward with a terrible, deliberate grace.

Kael raised his sword, chest heaving, every muscle screaming in protest. “Elara... this isn’t over.”

She steadied herself beside him, summoning a flicker of fire from her fingertips. “Then we end it together.”

The shard-knight advanced, and the night burned red with its coming.