Chapter 13: Riven's Sacrifice
The cold bit deep.
Kael lay on the altar, every breath shallower than the last. Their veins sang with corrupted magic, their soul-mark seared by the dark rites of the Prism Order. The traitor a friend no longer stood above them with the ceremonial blade raised, ready to complete the sacrifice.
Riven's name was the last thing on Kael's lips.
And he heard it.
Far beyond the bounds of the warded sky, in the twisted ravines of the Broken Realms, Riven carved open the air with a blade made of godbone. He didn't hesitate. Didn't wait for the others to catch up. He leapt into the breach.
The Vein answered.
Chains of shadow coiled around his arms, his neck, his chest. They whispered warnings. Threats. Promises. He ignored them all. His silver eyes flared with resolve.
"Kael."
The Prism Cathedral trembled.
It was a soundless quake. A pressure change. The cultists around the altar stiffened.
"Something is breaching the boundary," hissed one.
The Eye turned sharply, their mirrored mask catching the flickering lights of the ritual chamber.
"Impossible. The Vein is sealed."
But the Vein was never truly sealed.
It cracked.
The mirrored ceiling above exploded outward, revealing a tear in the fabric of the night. Through it descended a storm cloaked in flesh and rage.
Riven.
No longer bound in mortal rules. No longer clean or careful. His cloak billowed like wildfire, threaded with demonic sigils. His skin shimmered with ancient script that crawled and reshaped itself with every breath.
He landed beside Kael.
The cult scattered.
The Eye raised their staff. "You should not exist."
Riven didn't speak.
He unsheathed both blades.
The first stroke shattered the altar's protective sigil.
The second cleaved through the traitor's weapon, sending shards of ceremonial godsteel skittering across the marble.
Kael blinked.
Their mouth moved but made no sound.
Riven dropped to his knees beside them. His hand trembled as he cradled their face.
"Stay with me," he whispered.
Kael tried to answer but only blood spilled from their lips.
Behind them, the Prism Order regrouped.
They began to chant again.
The floor beneath the altar glowed.
Riven knew he had no time. No options. And only one truth to gamble.
He would give Kael everything.
He pressed his palm to Kael's chest.
"Forgive me."
His voice dropped into the Forbidden Tongue the language of the Hollowbloods.
Chains of living darkness erupted from his arms, his spine, his shadow.
They wrapped around Kael, piercing gently, then deeply.
Kael arched.
A gasp tore from their throat as Riven began the ritual.
Elsewhere in the Cathedral, the others arrived.
Thorne crushed a cultist beneath a glowing warhammer.
Kiel sent sonic waves through the stone, shattering masks and illusions.
Aeris blinked in and out of time, sabotaging their spells before they formed.
Laeth clawed through layers of corrupted memory constructs, eyes feral with worry.
But none of them could stop what Riven was doing.
Aeris was the first to recognize it.
"He's offering his soul."
Thorne stiffened. "The demon-binding? That's suicide."
Laeth grabbed Aeris's wrist. "Can we stop him?"
Aeris shook her head, eyes wide with horror. "Only Kael can."
Kael was caught between worlds.
Their soul hovered just outside their body. In the in-between.
They saw a version of themselves crowned in gold, walking through a river of flame. They saw Riven chained to a moon, bleeding stars. They saw the Eye laughing as cities burned.
Then they felt it.
A pulse.
Riven.
His hand reached for theirs across the darkness.
"I won't let you go," his voice echoed. "Not you. Not again."
Kael hesitated.
They remembered the pain. The betrayals. The warnings.
But they remembered his arms. His eyes. The truth in his silence.
They reached back.
And the binding completed.
In the real world, Kael screamed.
Veinlight exploded from their chest.
Their skin glowed with runes of both Hollowblood and Veinborn origin, merged in unnatural harmony.
The altar shattered.
Riven collapsed, breathless, his energy nearly gone.
Kael floated above the ruins.
Their eyes burned gold and silver.
They landed beside Riven.
He looked up at them with a weak smile. "You're alive."
Kael nodded.
Then their head tilted.
Their expression changed.
And they whispered, "You're loud in here."
Riven blinked. "What?"
Kael pointed to their head.
"You're in here. I can hear you."
Riven froze.
Aeris reached them, breathless. "The ritual. It merged your souls. You're linked. Not just bound."
Kael looked at Riven, then closed their eyes.
Inside their mind, Riven's voice echoed: "Kael... this was the only way."
They opened their eyes slowly.
And for the first time since the shattering, they didn't feel alone.