The sky was black. Not with night, but with smoke and ash. Lightning cracked above the ruined horizon. The earth trembled beneath Kael's feet.
He stood at the top of the obsidian shrine, the mask in his hands—its eyes now glowing with crimson light. Selene stood behind him, wounded but alive, her hand resting over her heart as she watched him.
Below them, the Thorn had awakened.
It pulsed like a living heart, a massive growth of roots and veins stretching across the valley, devouring stone and soil. At its center, something stirred—a shape too large and twisted to be human. The god beneath the ruin… rising at last.
Kael's mark burned hotter than ever.
"It's time," he whispered.
"Kael," Selene said softly. "You don't have to do this."
He turned to her, smiling faintly. "You know that's not true."
She stepped closer, shaking her head. "There's always another way."
"No. This is the only way to stop it. The Thorn gave me power… but it's been using me all along. If I offer myself now, I can seal it forever."
Selene's voice cracked. "Then I'll go with you."
"No," he said. "You have to live. Someone has to remember. Someone has to carry the truth."
He placed the mask over his face. It fused to his skin, and suddenly, the world around him slowed. Time stretched. The whispers returned—no longer screaming, but guiding.
The god roared.
Kael stepped forward and leapt into the heart of the Thorn.
There was a flash of white.
Then silence.
The sky cleared.
The Thorn stopped moving.
Selene collapsed to her knees, tears falling quietly.
All across the land, the curse lifted. The ash blew away. Life slowly began to return.
Kael was gone. But the ruin he left behind was no longer a place of death—it was a grave and a promise.
A single flower bloomed at the center of the shrine.
Years later, people would come from all over to see it. To remember the boy who faced a god… and chose to save the world instead of himself.