"The deepest wounds are not left by blades, but by the parts of ourselves we abandon."
---
📍 Shadow Flame Stronghold – Forbidden Vault
Kael stood motionless.
Before him floated a boy-shaped shadow — a teenage version of himself, untouched by battle or time. His hair was black smoke, and his eyes… were identical.
> [Subject Identified: WRAITH_ECHO]
[Soul Type: Split Fragment]
[Threat Level: Unknown]
Kael raised his guard. "What are you?"
The echo smiled faintly. "What you left behind… when you chose to survive."
Kael's system buzzed—conflicted.
> [Cognitive Dissonance Detected]
[Stability Risk: High]
[Link Integrity: Compromised]
"You're not just a memory," Kael said.
"I'm your beginning," the shadow replied. "The raw version of you before the system rewrote your soul. Before you forgot what they did to us."
---
📍 System Memory Fragment – Year -3 (Before Portals)
The room smelled like iron and fire.
A child screamed in the dark, surrounded by machines pulsing with corrupted mana.
A voice: "Stabilize the subject. Inject the prototype chain-binding core."
Kael jolted back to the present.
---
đź“Ť Back in the Vault
The shadow stepped forward, chains drifting around him.
"They broke us, Kael. They made us into this weapon. And then they buried me."
Kael whispered, "You were locked away for a reason."
The echo flared with black flame. "Not locked. Abandoned. Because you couldn't handle the truth. But now I've returned—because you need me."
---
📍 Meanwhile – Upper Stronghold
Syl and Myrla ran through the corridors, alarms blaring in the distance.
"The Vault just registered a shadow divergence," Myrla said, checking her holo-pad. "He found it."
Syl's eyes widened. "The forgotten version?"
"He's facing himself right now," Myrla whispered. "If he loses… we lose Kael."
---
📍 Vault – Shadow Confrontation
The two versions stood mirrored.
Kael: wounded, conflicted, burning with determination.
The echo: pure, cold, free of doubt.
"Let me take control," the echo said. "I'll finish what they started. We'll become something greater. Not a puppet… but a Sovereign of True Shadows."
Kael's fists clenched. "You think power is what I lack?"
"I think you're too human," the echo hissed.
> [Fusion Request Detected – Shadow Core Merge]
Status: Awaiting Consent
Kael stepped forward.
"I won't run from you. I won't destroy you."
> [Override Command?]
[Accept Fragment – Bond: Equal]
[Reject Fragment – Contain at Risk]
He opened his hand.
"Join me. Not as a weapon. As part of me."
Silence.
The echo stared at him for several seconds.
Then… he smiled.
"For once… we agree."
> [Core Merge Initiated]
[Echo Absorbed – Stability Reinforced]
[New Skill Unlocked: Shadow Requiem – Level 1]
[Title Gained: Bearer of Forgotten Self]
A surge of shadow light erupted, shaking the stronghold.
---
📍 Outside the Vault – Minutes Later
The doors opened.
Kael walked out.
He looked different—not just stronger. Calmer. Whole.
Syl stepped forward, hand on her blade. "Are you… you?"
Kael nodded. "More than ever."
Myrla exhaled. "You survived the fusion. That's never happened before."
"Because I chose not to erase who I was," Kael replied.
And deep within him, he felt it.
A calm voice… his own.
Always watching.
---
📍 Final Scene – South Rim, Ruins of Edvar
Black fog spread over the ruined city.
Figures fled in panic. Lights died. Magic faded.
Atop a broken tower stood Xal'tor, cloak flowing in the storm.
His voice echoed across the dead streets.
> "The Shadow Sovereign rises. But I… remember what he was."
> "Let's see what remains… when I take it all back."
---
📌 *Next Chapter: Chapter 26 – Ashes of the First Chain