Chapter 73: The Forgotten Shard

The whispering voice wrapped around Kael like smoke, tugging him closer to the split trunk. His fingers twitched at his sides, aching to touch the pulsing darkness nestled within the ancient oak.

Aurelia's hand clamped onto his shoulder, her nails digging in hard enough to draw blood. "Don't." Her voice was raw, stripped of its usual sharp edges. "That's not for you."

Kael blinked, the trance breaking. He stumbled back a step, his chest heaving. The thing inside him—the sliver of Aurelia's power—thrashed like a caged animal, responding to the shard's call.

Lucian stood frozen a few paces away, his sword half-raised. "What in the seven hells is that?"

Aurelia released Kael, her fingers leaving dark smears on his tunic where she'd pierced his skin. Her blood—black and shimmering—mixed with his own crimson. "A mistake," she whispered. "One I buried a long time ago."

The wind picked up, rustling the unnaturally green grass around the oak. The shard pulsed in response, its dark light swelling.

Kael wiped at his shoulder, his fingers coming away streaked with both colors of blood. The moment the fluids mixed, a jolt went through him—a vision of a younger Aurelia, her hands blackened to the elbows, weeping as she pressed something dark into the heart of a freshly felled tree.

"You hid it here," he gasped.

Aurelia's expression hardened. "And it should have stayed hidden."

The shard pulsed again, louder this time. The sound wasn't a sound at all but a vibration in the bones, in the teeth, in the marrow. The split in the oak's trunk widened with a groan of protesting wood, revealing more of the artifact—it was larger than he'd thought, nearly the size of a human heart.

Lucian took a step back, his sword trembling. "We need to leave. Now."

"No." Aurelia's voice was steel. "She led us here for a reason." Her dark eyes fixed on Kael. "And you're going to tell me what you saw."

Kael swallowed hard. The vision lingered behind his eyes—young Aurelia's tear-streaked face, the way her hands had shook as she'd sealed the darkness away. "You were... different. Younger. You put that thing in the tree yourself."

Aurelia's jaw tightened. "How did I look?"

"Afraid."

A shudder ran through her. "Then we're already too late."

The ground beneath them trembled. Not the violent shaking of before, but something subtler—like the earth itself drawing in a breath.

The shard sang.

Kael's knees buckled as the thing inside him answered. Pain lanced through his skull as the pact-bond flared to life, images flooding his mind:

—Aurelia screaming as shadows poured from her mouth, her eyes bleeding black—

—The Original standing over her, one hand buried in Aurelia's chest—

—A piece of pure darkness being torn free, Aurelia collapsing like a puppet with cut strings—

The vision shifted:

—The same piece of darkness being pressed into the oak's heart—

—A whisper: "As long as it remains, so do I."—

Kael came back to himself gasping, his nose bleeding freely. Aurelia crouched before him, her hands framing his face.

"Look at me," she commanded.

Her eyes were endless pools of black, the mark on her neck now visible up to her jawline. But beneath the darkness, Kael saw something new—fear. True, unguarded fear.

"You understand now," she whispered.

Kael nodded, his voice hoarse. "It's a piece of you. The part she took."

The shard pulsed again, and this time, the voice was unmistakable:

Come home, daughter.

Aurelia recoiled as if struck.

Lucian's sword clattered to the ground. "That's—"

"The Original," Aurelia finished. "Using my own voice." She turned back to the tree, her hands curling into fists. "She didn't just want me dead. She wanted me empty. A vessel for her to wear."

The implications settled over Kael like a weight. "And now she's calling it back to her."

Aurelia nodded once, sharp. "Which means we have one chance." She held out her hand—not to Kael, but to Lucian. "Your sword."

Lucian didn't move. "Why?"

"Because when I do this," Aurelia said quietly, "it's going to hurt. And I need you to make sure I don't stop."

Kael's blood ran cold. "What are you going to do?"

Aurelia smiled then, her old, sharp smile. "What I should have done centuries ago."

She reached into the split trunk—

—and wrapped her fingers around the shard