Back in Gods’ Prison...
Kai crossed another tunnel, stumbling toward yet another grim end. The tunnels of the future bent like an endless maze, each passage closing with a portal that shimred like liquid dark glass. At every dead end, he faced a choice: surrender to the future it offered, or resist and keep searching for the one that led him ho.
Before stepping through the next portal, he glanced at his gashed arms, wounds that healed slowly, unnaturally, as if the prison wanted to keep him whole for more tornt. He leaned against the dark stone wall, trying to summon a tender mory of Reneira. But even those precious monts were slipping away like smoke, fading. He knew that once he crossed this threshold, more of his past would vanish. Only when a forgotten fragnt sparked within him did the next portal take shape, and once he passed through, there was no going back, and he would return to the tunnels.
He had long lost track of ti. Minutes, hours, or centuries, it was all swallowed by this eternal place. He closed his eyes and whispered hoarsely, "Wait for , wife."
Then, gathering the last of his strength, he stepped forward and the world shifted.
He found himself in the heart of a battlefield. His sword was buried in a human chest. With a rough pull, he tore it free and looked up into a gray, angry sky. He stood atop a mound of corpses. Behind him, Shadow roared, his beast bound to his fury.
He had slain so many, n who ca to plunder Thegara, to steal its mines, to trample its people’s rights under foreign feet. To make them human’s slaves.
He closed his eyes, breathing. But the air stench of blood. Rain fell in slow, heavy drops, washing the blood from his face, but not the guilt behind his eyes.
Thunder cracked across the sky. Kai turned his head away from the sound, his gaze falling on the bloodied forms of his n.
"The golden dragon is dead!" Gamma Axe called out.
The King of Thegara descended the slope of bodies, his steps heavy, relentless. His eyes locked onto the dragon’s massive corpse, and beside it, the lifeless bodies of Queen Gloria and her lover Rail, lying close as if death had been their final truce.
"We march to Alvonia’s main castle," he commanded hoarsely.
But Axe hesitated, his eyes drawn not to Kai’s voice, but to the figure crouched beside Queen Gloria. Rail, he was once his godson.
"Should we... leave him here?" Axe asked quietly.
Kai’s face betrayed no emotion. His voice was colder than the storm. "He chose to die with her. They betrayed . They killed my wife."
A thick, black aura pulsed from his body, crawling across the ground like smoke from a dying star. It was not a request. There would be no argunt.
With a sweep of his hand, Kai tore open glowing portals and snarled at the waiting shifters, "March on the castle. Kill every human in your path."
And without another word, he vanished into the portal in a flash of violet light, like a thunderbolt striking the void.
Axe and Alpha Xander exchanged grim looks. They said nothing but followed.
As they stord into the city of Jaigara, chaos reigned. Smoke curled through the burning streets. Screams pierced the night as civilians scattered, fleeing the onslaught. Shadow fed on their terror, its breath thick with the scent of fear, getting bigger and bigger.
Alpha Xander’s eyes swept the flaming alleys until they found a familiar figure cloaked in shadows, Sigaros, the old wizard. He ran to him, desperation etched into every step.
"Use the formation," he begged. "Send him back to the Gods’ prison. Please, there are too many innocent lives here."
Sigaros hesitated, his voice low and grim. "Summoning the Saints’ portal might kill ."
"You’ll die either way, you are too old." Xander snapped.
From across the ruined square, Kai turned his head, his eyes glowing like molten steel. He raised a hand and unleashed a thick, writhing rope of darkness. It coiled through the air and seized Alpha Xander, lifting him off the ground like a hanging traitor. He was scheming behind him in the shadows, assuming he wouldn’t know.
"You know how I deal with betrayal," Kai said, his voice sharp with venom.
Xander didn’t defy. His face was calm, sorrowful, resigned. "I’d rather die than watch you slaughter innocents. This isn’t what Luna Queen Reneira wanted."
Kai’s eyes narrowed. Her na struck sothing deep, but all he could feel was rage, endless and consuming.
"Rember us," Xander whispered. "We fought the vampires together. She pulled you from the Gods’ prison. You can wake from this nightmare..."
Blood sprayed from his lips as darkness crushed his ribs. The words ended in a gurgle.
But in that single mont of distraction, Sigaros acted. He carved ancient runes into the air with trembling hands. Rings of radiant magic ignited above Kai, encircling him like halos of judgnt.
Kai roared and slamd his sword into the earth, shaking the ground with its fury. But the pull had begun. The gate was opening, holy and rciless, pinning him where he was.
The wizard staggered, his body cracking with light, veins glowing as the forbidden magic tore through him. Still, he endured. Still, he conjured. And at last, the holy gate yawned open and swallowed the demon’s son whole.
Kai crashed into a hard stone.
The tunnel again.
His body throbbed with pain, his skin torn, his wounds half-healed, still weeping blood. He groaned and moved his hand, his fingers brushing against sothing solid. tal.
His sword?! His sword had returned to him. He gasped and clutched the hilt.
How? He had lost it, he rembered losing it. The mory of defeating Luther ca in flashes, and in those flickers, the blade had vanished. And yet, now it was here, firm in his grip, as though it had never left him.
He clutched it tighter, using the blade like a crutch to push himself upright. His legs shook. He stumbled. The tunnel mocked his weakness, its walls jagged, its stench foul, its darkness endless. It gave no rest.
He wandered for hours. Maybe days, months, years. Ti unraveled in this place. Path after path split before him, none leading anywhere.
Then, at last, an ending.
Ahead, the tunnel glowed faintly red. The hue pulsed like a wound. Kai hesitated. There was sothing wrong with this one. But then, he slled it. A familiar scent. Cold wind. Pine. Smoke.
His breath caught. He scowled and stepped forward, slowly crossing the threshold. Icy air pierced his skin. He blinked against the white mist.
Mountains, snow, this was the Veil Valley. This was real. Gods!
This was the mountain behind the Cave Temple of Thegara.
"I have my mory..." he whispered, stunned.
Unlike the other futures, this portal had not wiped his past clean. He rembered everything, Ren, the fuss in that garden, the blood, the betrayal of Zaira. A surge of fury rose within him.
With a cry, he swung his sword into the side of a jagged rock, shattering the stone with a crack. His breath stead in the cold. Then, voices. His body tensed. Soone was near
"Did you hear that?"
"Hurry up, Sister! We might see snow foxes in the daylight!"
Kai crouched behind a jagged rock, breath shallow, eyes narrowed. Two teenagers erged into view, their laughter echoing through the cold valley. But when their faces ca into focus, sothing in him broke.
The girl’s eyes glead gold, just like his gold eyes. The boy’s eyes shimred blue, bright and wild like stars.
His spine stiffened.
"Mother will punish us," the girl nagged, frowning.
"You could’ve stayed behind, Seraphina," the boy retorted with a playful scoff. "I never told you to chase . Now that you’re here, stop acting like a hag."
"You’re wicked, Benkin!"
Kai’s chest tightened. He staggered forward, trembling. Those nas.
Seraphina. Benkin. Good gods. He couldn’t contain it. The words tore from him as he stepped out into their sight.
"Who is your mother?!"
The boy reacted instantly, throwing up a shimring shield of magic and pulling his sister behind him.
"Who are you?" the boy demanded, his voice slightly shaking, but he was hiding his fear.
His sister looked at Kia innocently, "He is a wounded man!"
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