Chapter 60: The Mirror Cracked

The light burned.

Kael threw up an arm as the chamber erupted in blinding white, the force of it slamming him backward into the stone floor. His head cracked against the ground, sending stars dancing across his vision. Somewhere in the chaos, he heard Aurelia swear and Lucian snarl—but their voices sounded distant, muffled, as if he were underwater.

When the glare finally faded, the chamber was changed.

The robed figures lay motionless, their faceless forms crumpled like discarded puppets. The altar had split clean down the middle, its surface blackened and smoking. And the Shard—

The Shard hovered midair, suspended in a web of crackling energy, its fractured surface pulsing like a dying heart.

But Kael barely registered any of it.

Because the Veil's leader stood before him, their shattered mask hanging askew, revealing the impossible truth beneath.

His own face stared back at him.

Not a copy. Not an illusion. Every detail was perfect—the faint scar above the eyebrow from a childhood fall, the slight crook in the nose from when Lucian had punched him during training. Even the expression was his—the way his lips pressed thin when he was trying not to show fear.

"Surprised?" the leader asked with Kael's voice.

Aurelia appeared at Kael's side, one dagger still dripping black fluid. "What the hell is this?"

The leader didn't even glance at her. Their—his—gaze remained locked on Kael. "You still don't understand? After everything you've seen?"

Lucian moved to flank them, his sword raised. "Enough games."

"No games," the leader said softly. "Only truth." They reached up and fully removed the broken mask, letting it clatter to the ground. "I am what you become. What you will become. The Veil's final disciple."

Kael's mouth went dry. "That's not possible."

"Isn't it?" The leader—Future Kael—smiled, and it was the most terrible thing Kael had ever seen. "How do you think I knew exactly how to find you? How to manipulate you? Every choice you've made, I've already lived."

Aurelia's grip tightened on her dagger. "Bullshit. If you were really him, you'd know we'd never believe this."

Future Kael's smile didn't waver. "You didn't last time either."

Then he moved.

One second he was across the chamber—the next, his hand was around Kael's throat, lifting him clear off the ground. Kael gasped, clawing at the iron grip, but his future self was stronger, impossibly so.

"The Shard needs a vessel," Future Kael whispered. "A living anchor. You resisted last time. But this time..."

Darkness crept at the edges of Kael's vision. He could hear Aurelia and Lucian shouting, could see them lunging forward—but they were too slow, too late—

Then—

A sound like shattering glass.

The Shard screamed.

A web of light erupted from its fractured surface, lashing out like living lightning. The bolt struck Future Kael square in the chest, sending him staggering back with a roar of pain. Kael collapsed to the ground, choking, as the chamber trembled around them.

The Shard pulsed once, twice—then exploded.

The blast threw them all backward. Kael hit the wall hard, the breath driven from his lungs. When he managed to lift his head, the altar was gone. The Shard was gone.

And Future Kael—

Aurelia was on him before he could rise, her dagger at his throat. "Give me one reason not to end this right now."

Future Kael laughed, blood trickling from his lips. "Because you already have."

His form began to dissolve, flesh unraveling like thread from a spool. "The Shard is broken. The timeline with it." His eyes—Kael's eyes—locked onto Kael's one last time. "But remember... some fates are harder to escape than others."

Then he was gone.

Only silence remained.

Lucian was the first to speak. "What the fuck just happened?"

Kael stared at the empty space where his future self had been. His hands shook. "I think... we won."

Aurelia slowly lowered her dagger. "Yeah," she said softly. "That's what worries me."

The ground beneath them trembled—not from any explosion, but from something deeper, something older. The walls of the temple groaned, cracks spiderwebbing across the ancient stone.

Lucian grabbed Kael's arm, hauling him up. "We need to move. Now."

As they fled the crumbling temple, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them. That something had always been watching.

And it was laughing