Chapter 12: Ashes of Vengeance
The chamber was silent except for the soft crackling of lava in the distance, a haunting reminder of the battle that had just taken place. Kael remained kneeling beside Lira’s lifeless body, his eyes empty as he stared at her peaceful face. The reality of her death was beginning to sink in, each passing second tightening the knot of grief in his chest.
Mira knelt beside Kael, her own tears streaking down her soot-stained face. She gently closed Lira’s eyes, her hands trembling. "She was so brave," Mira whispered, her voice thick with sorrow. "She believed in you, Kael... right until the end."
Kael’s grip on the shard tightened, the jagged edges digging into his palm. He felt nothing but a cold, unyielding rage. Moradin’s taunts echoed in his mind, feeding the dark flames within him. Lira had been more than a friend—she had been his strength, his anchor. And now she was gone, ripped away by a god who reveled in destruction.
As Kael slowly rose to his feet, the air around him seemed to ripple with a newfound intensity. The shard of the Heart of the Abyss in his hand pulsed with dark energy, responding to the raw emotion coursing through him. Mira looked up at him, her eyes wide with concern.
"Kael, what are you—"
"Moradin isn’t the only one who will pay," Kael interrupted, his voice low and menacing. "Every god, every devil that has ever brought pain to this world—they’ll all burn for this."
Mira reached out, placing a hand on Kael’s arm. "Please, Kael, don’t let the abyss consume you. Lira wouldn’t want that."
Kael looked down at her, his expression softening for just a moment. He knew Mira was right—Lira had always been the voice of reason, the one who kept him grounded. But now, with her gone, the abyss within him seemed all the more tempting.
"She’s gone, Mira," Kael said, his voice hollow. "And nothing will bring her back. But I can make sure no one else suffers like this again."
Before Mira could respond, the ground beneath them began to tremble. The air grew thick with a suffocating heat as the volcanic chamber roared to life once more. Kael’s eyes darted toward the source of the disturbance, and what he saw made his blood run cold.
Emerging from the lava, his form wreathed in flames, was Moradin. The god of fire and chaos had survived Kael’s previous attack, though his armor was cracked and his body bore the marks of the abyss’s wrath. His glowing red eyes locked onto Kael with a mixture of fury and amusement.
"Did you really think you could destroy a god, boy?" Moradin snarled, his voice filled with contempt. "You’ve only just begun to see what true power is."
Kael’s heart pounded in his chest as he prepared for the inevitable confrontation. The shard in his hand pulsed with an even greater intensity, the abyss within it craving more destruction. But before Kael could react, Moradin raised his warhammer and slammed it into the ground, sending a shockwave of fire and force that knocked both Kael and Mira off their feet.
Mira screamed as she was thrown back, her body skidding across the rocky ground. Kael gritted his teeth, trying to push himself up, but the searing pain in his chest held him down. Moradin strode toward him, each step radiating heat and fury.
"You have no idea what you’re meddling with, boy," Moradin growled, standing over Kael. "The abyss will consume you, just as it has consumed so many others before you. You’ll be nothing but a vessel for its darkness."
Kael struggled to his feet, his vision swimming. He knew Moradin was right—the abyss was a force that could not be controlled, a power that devoured everything in its path. But at that moment, Kael didn’t care. All he wanted was to make Moradin suffer, to make him feel the same pain he had inflicted on Lira, on the countless others who had fallen to his chaos.
With a defiant roar, Kael raised the shard high, unleashing a torrent of dark energy toward Moradin. The abyssal power surged through the chamber, swallowing the light and heat, transforming it into cold, unrelenting darkness.
Moradin’s laughter echoed through the chamber as the abyss closed in around him. "You fool! You can’t defeat me with this power—it only feeds me!"
But Kael didn’t stop. He pushed harder, driving the abyss into Moradin’s very core, watching as the god’s laughter turned to screams of agony. The flames around Moradin flickered and died, his armor cracking further as the abyss began to consume him from within.
Mira watched in horror as Kael’s power surged out of control. The darkness began to spread, creeping across the ground and up the walls, threatening to engulf everything in its path. "Kael, stop!" she cried, but her voice was lost in the roar of the abyss.
Kael could feel the abyss pulling at him, tugging at the edges of his consciousness, whispering promises of power and vengeance. He knew he was losing control, but he couldn’t stop—not until Moradin was no more.
Finally, with one last desperate surge of power, Kael drove the abyss into Moradin’s heart. The god’s eyes widened in shock as the darkness enveloped him completely, his form dissolving into nothingness. The chamber was plunged into silence, the only sound the ragged breathing of Kael and Mira.
But the victory was hollow. As Kael fell to his knees, the shard slipping from his hand, he realized too late that Moradin had been right. The abyss had taken root within him, growing stronger with each use. And now, with Lira gone and the darkness inside him threatening to consume him whole, Kael understood that his fight was far from over.
Mira rushed to his side, pulling him close. "Kael, please, you have to fight it. Don’t let the abyss win."
But Kael’s eyes were distant, unfocused. He could feel the abyss clawing at his mind, tearing away at his resolve. He had defeated Moradin, but at what cost? The darkness had already claimed one of his friends—how many more would it take before it was satisfied?
"I don’t know if I can," Kael whispered, his voice trembling. "It’s too strong... I’m not strong enough."
Mira held him tighter, her own tears falling freely. "You are strong enough, Kael. You’re stronger than anyone I’ve ever known. Lira believed in you, and so do I. Don’t let her sacrifice be in vain."
Kael closed his eyes, trying to block out the darkness, the overwhelming sense of loss and despair. He wanted to believe Mira, to hold on to the hope that he could still control the abyss, that he could still be the person Lira had seen in him.
But as the chamber fell into silence once more, Kael couldn’t shake the feeling that something had been irreparably lost. The abyss had taken root in him, and no matter how hard he fought, it was only a matter of time before it consumed him entirely.
As Kael and Mira left the volcanic chamber, the shard of the Heart of the Abyss lay forgotten on the ground, its once bright light now reduced to a dim, flickering glow. The battle against Moradin was over, but the war within Kael was just beginning.
And deep within the abyss, a new darkness stirred, waiting for its moment to strike.
