Fragments of Power

A low hum filled the space around them.

Not sound. Not light. Something deeper. The air felt thick, warped—like the world itself had started to bend and stretch.

Kael tensed.

They weren't alone anymore.

From the shadows ahead, figures emerged. Their shapes shuddered unnaturally, shifting with an eerie fluidity. Their forms weren't stable—not quite human, not quite anything. Half-there. Half-something else.

Kael's grip tightened around his dagger. His instincts screamed at him.

These things weren't bound by normal rules.

Ronan exhaled sharply beside him. "So… we're fighting nightmares now? Great."

The moment he spoke, the figures moved.

A blur of impossible motion—they were fast.

Kael barely had time to react before one was already upon him. He twisted, dodging by instinct, the thing's presence brushing past him.

The air cracked where it struck. Not with force—but with something else.

A second later, another came from his blind spot.

Kael didn't think. He struck.

His dagger sliced clean through the thing's form—a perfect, sharp cut.

For a brief moment, the creature split apart. Its body severed, unraveling into wisps of nothing.

Then—before his eyes—it reformed.

Fluid. Effortless. Like nothing had happened.

Kael's breath caught.

The thing didn't even hesitate before lunging again.

He ducked, barely escaping another hit. His mind raced. Physical attacks weren't working. That meant—

A flicker in his peripheral.

Too late.

Another figure struck him—not with a blow, not with an impact, but with something deeper.

It felt like a pull, a shift—like something inside him had been touched.

For a brief second, his vision blurred.

Images. Flashes of something he couldn't understand.

Then—gone.

Kael staggered back, pulse hammering. His head throbbed.

What the hell was that?

A sharp crack sounded as Ronan collided with another one, using brute force to send it flying. But even as it crashed against the wall, it didn't stop. It simply snapped back up—whole again.

"Not working," Ronan muttered, shaking out his arms. "Any ideas, genius?"

Before Kael could answer, Varian's voice cut through the air.

"You're approaching this the wrong way."

Kael snapped his gaze toward him.

Varian hadn't moved.

He was still standing there, arms crossed, just watching.

A surge of irritation sparked through Kael. "If you've got something useful to say, say it."

Varian gave the smallest shrug. "Think beyond the surface. What is a Dominion at its core?"

Kael gritted his teeth. What kind of cryptic bullshit was this?

He ducked as another figure swiped at him, rolling to the side before striking out again. His blade sank in—but once more, it was meaningless.

The thing reformed like liquid snapping back into place.

His attacks weren't doing anything.

A Dominion…

Kael wasn't like Ronan. He didn't fall under any of the three Dominions. His power was different. A path of its own.

And these things—they weren't following normal rules either.

Kael shifted his grip.

Another one came at him.

This time, instead of just attacking, he focused.

Not on the strike itself—but on what came before it.

He felt it.

A pull.

A ripple in something unseen.

He slashed forward.

For the first time—the creature faltered.

It wasn't much. A flicker. A hesitation in its movement, as if something had interrupted its flow.

Varian tilted his head slightly. "Good. Do it again."

Kael didn't hesitate.

He stepped into the motion, twisting his wrist, letting the blade cut—not just through flesh, but through the space holding it together.

Another flicker.

This time, the creature struggled. It took just a second longer to reform.

Kael exhaled sharply.

He could feel it.

Something on the edge of his mind.

Not an ability. Not yet.

But something waiting to take shape.

The fight continued.

Ronan was a blur of motion, keeping them at bay with sheer force. Meanwhile, Kael kept chasing that moment. That flicker.

He could feel the shape of something—like trying to grasp the edges of a word he couldn't quite remember.

Another strike.

Another shift.

The flicker lasted longer this time.

The creatures weren't invincible. They had a weakness.

Kael's pulse pounded. He was close.

Then—just as suddenly as they had appeared—the figures began to fade.

Kael didn't lower his guard immediately.

He watched as the last one dissolved, its form unraveling into nothing.

They weren't trying to kill us, he realized.

They were testing something.

The silence that followed was thick. Heavy.

Then Varian finally spoke.

"You felt it, didn't you? That shift. That moment where everything almost clicked."

Kael didn't answer right away.

Because he had.

Something was changing.

He didn't understand it yet. Didn't know how to grasp it.

But it was there.

And he was going to figure it out.

Varian turned away. "That was only a taste. If you want to survive, you'd better be ready to go further."

Kael exhaled.

He wasn't there yet.

But he was close.

And whatever was waiting ahead…

He'd be ready.