"A crown is not a gift. It is a warning."
– Queen of the Abyss
The moon above Kael's fortress was blood-red. Not from an eclipse, but from something older—an omen carved into the stars by the Abyssal Queen herself.
Kael stood on the upper terrace, wind raking his cloak like invisible claws. The chill in the air wasn't natural. Reality was bending, ever so slightly. His pact with the Eidolon Realm had not gone unnoticed, and now the Queen of the Abyss had responded—not with fury, but with a summons.
A black lotus had bloomed on his desk.
A single petal.
An invitation.
In the war chamber, Seraphina traced the edge of the dark lotus with gloved fingers.
"She's calling you. And you're actually considering going?"
Kael didn't look up from the ancient map he was studying. "She doesn't summon. She commands. If I ignore her, she'll tear the veil between worlds open just to make a point."
"She's your mother."
Kael's gaze shifted, sharp as obsidian.
"She's a force of nature with maternal delusions. I was a weapon to her long before I was a son."
Seraphina softened. "And what are you now?"
Kael didn't answer.
The portal didn't roar or crackle. It whispered.
Black mist coiled like serpents as Kael stepped into the Gate of Thorns. Elyndra accompanied him, armor infused with voidsilver, her hand never straying far from her blade.
The Abyss wasn't a place.
It was a kingdom of emotion and instinct—formed from desire, regret, and hunger.
They walked through a city that breathed—walls of flesh and stone, towers grown from screaming trees. Every step resonated with whispered names—Kael's names. Titles, sins, futures.
Elyndra leaned close. "She's been waiting for you… a long time."
Kael's voice was unreadable. "I know."
She waited on a throne of marrow, her presence radiant and terrible. Long dark hair flowed into the throne like veins. Her eyes—so like Kael's—burned with an eternal hunger. Around her danced the devoured souls of kings, lovers, and betrayers—screaming in silence.
"My beautiful son," she purred, rising with inhuman grace. "You return to me cloaked in foreign power. But you still carry my blood… my soul."
Kael stood tall. "I've come for answers."
Her smile widened. "Then kneel. And I'll give you the truth… or a kiss."
Elyndra stepped forward instinctively. The Queen's gaze flicked to her with amused menace. "Still clinging to your little knight? Does she think you'll love her more than me?"
Kael didn't flinch. "You said you wanted to speak."
The Queen descended from her throne. With each step, the ground beneath her heels bloomed with corruption—roses of bone and voidlight.
"You've entered the Eidolon Realm. You've made a pact."
Kael nodded.
She laughed. "Then you've become the fulcrum. Do you know what that means, darling? You will decide which world remains."
Kael's expression darkened. "And you want me to choose you."
"I want you to choose yourself."
The Queen guided him to a mirror older than stars. Inside its surface—memories not yet lived.
Kael saw himself seated on a throne of galaxies.
Elyndra kneeling beside him.
Seraphina orchestrating wars on his behalf.
His mother, draped around his shoulders like a mantle of shadows.
But then—other visions.
The Eidolon Realm consuming his body.
Lucian's rebirth as a celestial devourer.
Auron—twisted, chained, but still burning with fury.
And the final image: Kael… alone. Surrounded by ashes.
The Queen whispered, "Every future begins with desire. Tell me, what do you truly desire, Kael?"
He turned away from the mirror.
"Freedom. From destiny. From you. From the gods."
She didn't look offended.
She looked proud.
As night fell in the Abyss, Kael stood with the Queen atop the Spire of Thorns. The stars here bled silver. The air tasted like memory.
"I need your armies," Kael said. "The Veiled Ones move. The Eidolons whisper. The realm between is cracking."
"And what will you offer me, my son?"
Kael didn't hesitate. "A place beside me. But not above me."
The Queen grinned. "You've grown."
With a single bite to his hand, she drew blood. With her own, she mixed it.
The pact was sealed in silence.
Their bond—twisted, intimate, eternal—had reached a new peak.
Later, in a private chamber carved from obsidian silk, Kael sat in silence. Elyndra stood by the window, arms crossed.
"You enjoyed being with her again."
Kael met her gaze. "I endured it. For power. For strategy."
"But part of you still belongs to her."
A long pause.
Kael rose and approached her, placing a hand against her cheek.
"I belong to no one, Elyndra. Not even to myself. But you—you're the one I chose."
She searched his eyes. Then leaned into him.
"If she tries to take you again…"
"She won't."
But they both knew that was a lie.
As Kael and Elyndra departed the Abyss, the Veiled Ones made their move. In the northern skies above Varynth, rifts burst open. Cities screamed. Time fractured.
From the Eidolon Realm, something came through—not a being, but a concept given flesh:
Oblivion incarnate.
And it wore a face Kael knew.
Lucian's.
To be continued...