A Symphony of Blades and Broken Stars

The hand that broke through the floor was not human.

Its fingers were long and jointless, covered in pale, cracked skin that pulsed like something still alive. The stone around it crumbled away, revealing more of the figure below. A hunched body emerged, cloaked in shadow, bones twisted in ways that defied nature.

Elion stepped back, heart pounding.

"What is that?" he asked.

Kaela kept her sword ready. "A piece of what you left behind."

The creature pulled itself up fully, dragging a long black chain behind it. Its face was hidden behind a smooth, white mask. No eyes. No mouth. Just silence.

But Elion could hear it.

Not with his ears.

With his mind.

You swore to end them, the voice said inside his thoughts. But you broke your vow.

The creature lunged.

Kaela struck first. Her blade flashed, clean and quick, but the creature caught it mid swing. It tossed her aside like a leaf in the wind. Lys reacted instantly, flames rising from her arms, forming a barrier between it and Elion.

"Move!" she shouted.

But Elion stood frozen. His curse mark burned like it was being carved into him again.

The creature stopped before him.

It tilted its head, like it was examining him. The voice returned.

You were chosen. You were marked. You were mine.

Then it reached for him.

Elion finally moved. He grabbed the candle from the altar and hurled it at the creature.

Light exploded.

The creature screamed, not with sound but with pressure. The air cracked, and a gust of force threw them all to the floor. Kaela was the first to recover. She dragged Elion up by his collar.

"We cannot fight it here," she said. "We need to leave."

Lys hesitated. "It will follow us."

"Then we lead it where it cannot survive."

They ran.

Up the spiral steps, out of the crater, through the broken land. Behind them, the creature climbed slowly, its chain dragging across the stone like a whisper made of iron.

They reached the edge of the Ash Road before the sun began to rise.

The creature had not caught up.

Elion collapsed to his knees.

"I know that thing," he said. "I do not know how, but I do."

Kaela looked back toward the crater. "You created it. Maybe not with your hands, but with your choices."

Lys crossed her arms. "You left behind more than memories, Elion. You left behind monsters."

Elion looked at his hand. The curse mark still glowed faintly, pulsing in time with his heartbeat.

He whispered to himself, "What did I become?"