Steel clashed in the quiet corridor. Sparks danced off obsidian walls as Kael struggled to keep up with his older self's brutal attacks. The other Kael moved like a predator—fast, precise, merciless.
Selene tried to intervene, but shadows coiled around her ankles, holding her back like chains.
"This is his fight," the older Kael said, his voice filled with something more than rage—something like grief.
Kael dodged a sweeping strike, panting. "Why are you doing this?"
The older Kael didn't answer with words. He slammed Kael against a statue—one of the many faces frozen in time. The statue shattered, pieces clattering to the ground.
"You became me," the older Kael growled. "You will become me."
Kael grit his teeth. "No. I won't."
He fought back harder, his movements sloppy but determined. Each strike he landed made the older version falter slightly. Not because of pain—but because of memory.
"Do you even remember what you sacrificed?" the older Kael spat. "What you gave up to reach the end?"
Kael froze for just a second. In that moment, the older Kael struck again, cutting through Kael's shoulder. Blood spilled, but Kael didn't fall.
Instead, he reached inside—where the Thorn pulsed.
It responded.
The mark on his chest burned bright red, and tendrils of light wrapped around his arm, reinforcing it. The pain dulled. The fear faded.
Kael looked up, eyes glowing faintly.
"I don't need to remember," he said. "I just need to make a different choice."
With one final push, he drove his blade into his older self's chest.
The figure stopped. Looked down at the wound. And smiled, faintly.
"Then maybe… maybe there's still time."
He crumbled into light.
The shadows vanished. Selene rushed to Kael's side, catching him before he collapsed.
"You're hurt."
"Not as much as before," he muttered.
Behind them, the hallway shifted. The walls rippled like water, and a doorway opened—its frame covered in thorn-like carvings.
Kael looked back once at the shattered statues, then forward.
"I think we're getting close."