The night was silent, but the air felt wrong—too still, too heavy, like the world itself was holding its breath.
Lucian stood at the edge of their ruined shelter, his mind racing.
Nyx had the Heart of the Abyss.
And that meant one thing.
Time was running out.
Selene stepped beside him, arms crossed, her golden eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
"She planned this," Selene murmured. "From the beginning."
Lucian exhaled sharply. "She's always been three steps ahead."
Behind them, Ash stirred, groaning as they regained consciousness.
Lucian turned, heart tightening. "Ash?"
Their friend's face was pale, eyes clouded with the weight of what had happened.
"I tried to fight it," Ash whispered. "I tried."
Lucian crouched beside them. "It wasn't your fault."
Ash shook their head. "That's not what I'm worried about."
Lucian frowned. "Then what?"
Ash swallowed hard, their voice trembling.
"I saw where she's taking it."
The Abyss Awakens
Lucian and Selene didn't waste time.
They packed what little they had and set out, Ash guiding them through the twisting terrain.
"The Abyss isn't just a place," Ash explained. "It's… alive. And now, with the Heart in her hands, Nyx can awaken it fully."
Lucian's jaw tightened. "What happens if she does?"
Ash hesitated. Then—
"The world ends."
Selene clenched her fists. "Then we stop her before it's too late."
But even as she said it, the horizon shifted.
The distant mountains—where the Abyss's influence had always been strongest—began to move.
Darkness swirled over them, alive, pulsing.
Lucian felt it deep in his bones.
Selene inhaled sharply. "We're already too late."
The Final Choice
They reached a cliffside, looking down at the valley below.
And there—
A rift in the earth, yawning wide, swallowing the land like a living void.
And at its center—
Nyx.
She stood at the edge of the abyss, arms raised, the Heart floating before her, pulsing with a sickly red glow.
Lucian's breath hitched.
He could feel it calling to him.
Nyx turned, smiling as if she had expected them all along.
"You came," she said softly. "Good."
Lucian drew his sword. "You know why we're here."
Nyx tilted her head. "Do I?"
The rift behind her pulsed, growing.
"The Abyss isn't just waking," she continued. "It's hungry. And this world—" She gestured around them. "It was never meant to last."
Lucian took a step forward. "Give me the Heart."
Nyx laughed. "Why? So you can destroy it? So you can kill the only thing that's ever truly belonged to you?"
Lucian froze.
Selene stiffened beside him. "Don't listen to her."
But Nyx's silver eyes bore into his.
"You feel it, don't you?" she murmured. "The Abyss is calling you home."
Lucian's hands shook.
Because she wasn't lying.
The power thrumming from the Heart…
It wanted him.
Selene saw the hesitation in his eyes.
And that's when Nyx struck.
The Breaking of the World
The ground split beneath them.
Nyx raised her hand, and the Heart surged, sending a wave of darkness crashing toward them.
Lucian grabbed Selene, pulling her back as the earth crumbled.
Ash barely managed to leap aside as black tendrils lashed out, grasping, pulling.
The Abyss was awake now—and it wasn't waiting anymore.
Nyx's voice rang through the chaos.
"You can't stop this, brother!"
Lucian looked at Selene—truly looked at her.
The fire in her eyes. The strength in her stance.
She believed in him.
She always had.
And that?
That was stronger than any darkness.
Lucian turned back to Nyx—
And made his choice.