Chapter 23: The Final Gambit

  The battlefield was chaos.

  The air was thick with the stench of Rift energy, the ground cracked beneath the weight of reality struggling to hold itself together. Riftspawn poured in waves, their bodies twisted, their violet eyes glowing with an insatiable hunger. The group fought desperately, their weapons clashing against claws and fangs, their shouts barely audible over the monstrous shrieks.

  But at the top of the steps, above the madness, Kael and Varyn stood apart from it all.

  This fight—their fight—was different. This wasn’t just about survival.

  This was about fate.

  Kael wasted no time, pressing forward with another strike, his Flame Unseen burning bright. He swung low, aiming to shatter Varyn’s ribs—

  But Varyn was already gone.

  A flicker of void energy, a ripple in the air, and Varyn reappeared behind him, his sword aimed for Kael’s exposed back.

  Kael barely turned in time, twisting mid-step, blocking with the shaft of his hammer. Their weapons met with a deafening clash, a shockwave blasting outward.

  Varyn’s smile widened. "Better."

  Kael gritted his teeth, pushing against him. "I’m not here to entertain you." Varyn chuckled. "Oh, but you are."

  Then, he shoved Kael backward with a burst of Rift energy, sending him sliding across the platform.

  Kael’s feet barely found purchase before Varyn lifted his hand, palm open, voice almost playful.

  "Tell me something, Kael. Do you actually believe in free will?"

  Kael froze, caught off guard by the sudden question.

  Varyn stepped forward slowly, twirling his sword lazily in one hand. "Do you think your choices have ever been your own?"

  Kael scowled, gripping his hammer tighter. "What kind of question is that?"

  Varyn smirked. "An important one."

  Then, in the span of a breath, he attacked.

  Their blades met again, fire against void, light against shadow. Kael lunged, hammer arcing toward Varyn’s skull—but Varyn dodged without effort, his movements almost casual.

  "Look around you, Kael," Varyn murmured, sidestepping another swing. "Look at this battle. Your friends, your precious Lirien—they are struggling, failing, dying."

  Kael’s heart pounded, but he didn’t dare glance back.

  Varyn smiled. "And you know why?"

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  Kael snarled, swinging harder. "Because of you."

  Varyn laughed, effortlessly dodging. "No, Kael. Because it was always meant to happen this way."

  He parried a strike and countered faster than Kael could react, his blade slicing against Kael’s ribs—just deep enough to draw blood.

  Kael hissed, staggering back.

  Varyn’s golden eyes gleamed. "You were never in control of your story."

  Kael wiped the blood from his side, jaw clenched. "You don’t know anything about me."

  Varyn tilted his head. "Oh, but I do. I know everything about you. About us."

  He lifted a hand, and the shadows around them shifted, twisting unnaturally.

  "I know that you believe yourself to be chosen by the moons. A warrior of fate, blessed by celestial fire." His smirk darkened. "But what if I told you that you were never chosen at all?"

  Kael’s grip on his hammer tightened.

  "Think," Varyn urged. "When did the moons first bless you? When did you first feel the power of the Flame Unseen?"

  Kael’s mind flashed back—to the Rift, to the desert, to the moment the power awakened inside him.

  Varyn nodded. "Exactly. It came not from prophecy, not from divine choice—but from desperation. From pain. From survival. And if that is what unlocked your flame, then it was never yours to wield. It was always theirs."

  Kael exhaled, his mind whirling.

  Varyn chuckled softly. "Do you see now? You are not a warrior of fate. You are a puppet. A pawn. And the moons?" He scoffed. "They are merely the ones pulling the strings."

  Kael roared, his Flame Unseen erupting outward. "Shut up!"

  Varyn grinned.

  "Yes," he whispered. "Show me."

  Kael charged, his hammer crashing down—and for the first time, Varyn actually struggled to block.

  Kael fought harder, faster, his flames growing wilder. The force of each strike sent shockwaves through the battlefield, the very ground cracking beneath them.

  Varyn dodged, parried, moved like liquid shadow—but Kael was relentless.

  For the first time, Varyn’s smirk flickered.

  Kael struck again—and his hammer connected.

  Varyn staggered.

  Kael saw his chance and swung again, again, again—

  Until Varyn caught his wrist.

  Kael barely had time to react before void energy exploded outward, blasting him off his feet.

  He hit the ground hard, gasping for breath, his vision blurring.

  Varyn stood over him now, wiping blood from his lip. He was laughing again.

  "You’re not bad, Kael," he admitted. "Truly. But you still don’t get it, do you?"

  Kael tried to move, but Varyn lifted his hand—and suddenly, Kael’s body wouldn’t obey him.

  A weight pressed down on him, heavier than gravity itself.

  Kael couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

  Varyn crouched beside him, voice soft, almost gentle. "No matter how hard you fight… you were always meant to lose."

  Kael’s rage burned hotter than ever.

  "No," he rasped. "I choose my own fate."

  Varyn’s smirk widened. "Do you?"

  Then, he stood and vanished.

  Kael gasped as the weight vanished, his body finally free.

  He staggered to his feet, his entire body shaking, his Flame Unseen pulsing erratically.

  Varyn now stood near the throne, his arms outstretched. Void energy coiled around him, pulsing with a power Kael had never seen before.

  "This world was always meant to break," Varyn called. "And I? I am merely here to finish what was started."

  Kael lifted his hammer.

  His vision blurred, exhaustion clawing at his limbs.

  But he would not let this happen. Not to his friends. Not to Lirien.

  Not to the world.

  With one last, steady breath—Kael charged.

  Straight toward the Shattered Throne. Straight toward Varyn.

  Straight toward the final battle.