Episode 26 – The Trial of the Broken Flame
The room was silent. Cold. The kind of silence that didn't just creep into your bones—it screamed inside them.
Kael stood at the threshold of the Trial Chamber in the Dark Realm, his shadow stretching behind him like a second soul. The door behind him had sealed the moment he stepped inside. There was no going back.
He was alone.
He knew it.
And that's what made this trial different.
No Lana. No Felix. No Tunde cracking awkward jokes about death and demons.
Just Kael.
And the voice.
"Your soul is unclean, Kael. You carry too much hope for one destined to fall."
He didn't flinch. "You've been watching me?"
"I've been inside you since you first touched the bloodstone. The power chose you. But it can also unchoose you."
Kael's breath was steady, but every part of his body ached. His veins felt molten. Ever since the Pit opened, his power had been growing—wildly. Unpredictably.
And now, the gods—or whatever cosmic jury ruled over the Dark Realm—wanted to test him.
A flame burst from the ground in front of him, forming a twisted arena surrounded by mirrors. Each one reflected a version of him—angrier, darker, corrupted.
Then they stepped out.
Ten Kaels. All with his face. But with none of his restraint.
"Great," Kael muttered. "Demon clones. Classic."
The first rushed him—no weapons, just claws and speed. Kael ducked and slammed his elbow into the clone's gut, spinning and kicking it into a mirror. Glass exploded. Fire hissed.
The others came at him fast—one wielding a shadow sword, another forming a spell with rotting sigils.
Kael fought hard, brutal, fast. But each clone whispered truths while they struck:
"You're scared of becoming like them."
"You want the power. You just don't want the price."
"You let Lana die. You let her die."
That one almost broke him.
Because it was true. He had let her die.
Even if he brought her back.
Even if she walked now—laughed, breathed—it wasn't the same.
And part of her knew it.
Kael screamed, summoning every shred of his will. The room shook. A surge of blue lightning burst from his hands, shattering the last two clones with a scream that wasn't his voice—it was deeper, ancient.
He fell to his knees.
Burning. Breathing. Alive.
"You passed," the voice said again. "But you're not whole. Not yet."
Kael looked up.
The arena had melted away. In its place stood a figure cloaked in black, with silver eyes and a blade on his back that shimmered with cursed light.
It was him.
But older. Taller. The face more weathered, eyes colder.
Future Kael.
"W-what is this?"
Future Kael stared. "Your final trial is with me."
---
MEANWHILE – IN THE REALM OF SHADOWS
Felix, Lana, and Tunde had found shelter in a broken temple, barely holding off the demonic forces that kept pulsing from the Silent Vaults. Lana's magic was flickering. Her wounds hadn't fully healed since Episode 25.
Tunde paced. "Kael's been gone too long."
Felix adjusted his glasses. "Time moves differently in the Dark Realm. He could be gone for minutes or months."
Tunde groaned. "What if he comes back with three heads or starts talking like a Shakespeare demon?"
"We'll deal with that," Lana said, standing. "But if he doesn't come back soon… we're out of time."
Felix looked out the shattered window.
The sky was bleeding.
The Vaults were cracking.
Something was rising.
---
BACK IN THE TRIAL
Kael stared at his future self. "So… what? I have to kill you?"
Future Kael smiled coldly. "No. You have to choose. Take my path… or destroy it."
He drew his sword—twice the size of Kael's, humming with power Kael didn't yet understand.
Kael reached for Velmorth'Rael. The sword answered his call like thunder, lightning streaking the arena.
The final duel began.
Steel met steel. Magic clashed like storms. They moved like mirrors—identical stances, thoughts, choices.
But Kael was still human.
Future Kael wasn't.
And it showed.
Kael bled. He stumbled.
Then something happened.
His mark—the one branded into him by the Pit—began to glow white instead of red.
The sword in his hand shifted. Grew brighter. Lighter.
Velmorth'Rael spoke—not in words, but in memory. Echoes of Lana's laugh. Tunde's ridiculous jokes. Felix's loyalty.
And Kael knew.
He wasn't fighting to become a god.
He was fighting to stay human.
With a roar, he dodged the final blow, surged forward, and plunged Velmorth'Rael through Future Kael's chest.
There was silence.
Then the future version smiled… and crumbled into ash.
"You chose well," the voice said one last time. "You may yet save them all."
---
Kael opened his eyes.
He was back in the temple.
Bloody. Shaking.
And Lana ran to him.
"You made it."
He smiled. "Barely."
Tunde snorted. "What took you so long, bruh? We were about to replace you with a demon who makes stew."
Kael stood slowly.
And above them, in the sky—
The final seal cracked.
And the true war… began.