The oasis shattered.
Glass cracked like thunder, shards bursting outward as the colossal skull rose higher, its tusks gleaming like pillars of crystal. Chains clanged from its jaw, dragging across the dunes. Crimson fire burned in its sockets, casting the palms into silhouettes of flame.
The phantoms wailed, their mouths still stitched with silence, their chains rattling as they circled the group.
Leela raised her staff, blue light pulsing in a ward. "Stay behind me!"
Shanaya laughed wildly, her flames spiraling hotter, wreathing her in fire. "Behind you? No. Look at it — don't you feel it? This power is ours!" She stepped closer to the beast, the fire in her eyes mirroring its glow.
Kabir's grin stretched sharp. His panther crouched low, his wolves growled, yet he stood calm, almost reverent. "Magnificent… an ancient grave breathing again. Vessel, this is your test."
Neel's sparks flared violently, his storm answering the crimson blaze. His heart pounded, chains rattling in his skull. The whisper's voice roared with glee. "Do you see, Vessel? Even death bows to you. Break the chains. Take it!"
–––
The beast lunged.
Its chains whipped outward, slamming into the ground, shattering stone and glass alike. A wave of force sent sand flying, toppling the palms. The pool boiled red, glowing like molten glass.
Leela thrust her staff forward. "Barrier!" Water surged, hardening into a dome of ice around them. Chains slammed into it, cracks spidering across the shield. She gritted her teeth, pushing harder, her knuckles white.
"Not for long!" she gasped.
Shanaya hurled fire across the dune, a torrent of flame striking the skull. The glassy surface glowed orange, molten veins spreading. But instead of cracking, the beast roared — and absorbed the fire into itself.
Shanaya's grin twisted. "Yes! It feeds me back! Do you see? It wants us to use it!"
Kabir barked a laugh. "Careful, fire-girl. The desert always takes more than it gives."
–––
The skull crashed downward, tusks gouging trenches through the sand. Neel leapt aside, lightning bursting from his hands. Bolts arced across the beast's face, shattering some of the phantoms that clung to its chains. The air filled with ozone and screams.
But the phantoms reformed, their chains weaving tighter.
Neel staggered, sweat burning his eyes. "We can't fight it head-on!"
Leela's voice cut sharp. "Then we seal it! If we bind its grave, it can't rise fully."
"No!" Shanaya's flames coiled into a blazing spear. "Why bind it when we can wield it?" She launched the spear, striking deep into the beast's jaw. The flames lit the cracks, the crimson glow surging brighter.
Neel's storm flared violently in response, sparks exploding uncontrolled. The whisper screamed triumph in his skull. "Yes! Yes! Let her feed it! Let her awaken it! Then take it for yourself!"
He clutched his head, torn between the voices outside and the one inside.
–––
Kabir stepped closer to Neel, his grin wicked. "What will you do, Vessel? Seal it like the healer begs? Or unleash it like the fire-girl demands? Either way…" His eyes glittered. "…the desert wins."
The beast reared back, chains rising like a thousand whips. Its roar split the night, glass shattering across the dunes.
And Neel's storm surged to answer.
––
The Oasis Beast roared.
Chains lashed outward, slamming into the dunes with explosive force. Sand erupted like geysers, shards of glass raining down from the shattered stones. The crimson fire in its skull flared brighter, every chain dragging with it the wailing phantoms of warriors long dead.
Shanaya charged, fire wreathing her body, her eyes blazing. "This is our chance!" she screamed, hurling a blazing inferno into the beast's maw. The skull devoured the flames, the red glow deepening until even the air burned with heat.
Leela gasped, staff trembling. "Shanaya, stop! You're feeding it!"
"Feeding it?" Shanaya laughed, her voice sharp and wild. "No — it's feeding me!" Fire surged around her fists, brighter than ever, but her veins glowed faintly red, mirroring the beast's runes.
Kabir's grin widened as he watched her flames twist. "Ah… so the desert has chosen its priestess." His panther crouched low, ready to spring, his wolves circling uneasily.
–––
Neel staggered, sparks exploding uncontrolled across his arms. The storm inside him roared, lightning begging to tear free. The whisper howled with exultation.
"Do you see, Vessel? Fire bows. Chains bow. Even the dead bow! Break the seal, and all of it is yours. You are storm unbound."
He clutched his head, his vision flickering between reality and the crimson-glass phantoms reaching for him. His pulse pounded like thunder.
Leela grabbed his shoulders, her voice sharp with desperation. "Neel! Listen to me! This thing isn't meant to be wielded. It's a curse! If you unleash it, it won't just take Shanaya — it'll take you too!"
Her eyes bored into his, fierce, unyielding. "You told me once you didn't want to become a monster. Prove it now."
–––
The beast lunged.
Its tusks gouged the sand where Neel and Leela had stood, chains whipping outward. Kabir's wolves leapt, only to be struck midair, crushed by phantom bindings. The panther leapt onto a chain, claws tearing through glass, sparks flying.
Kabir laughed wildly. "Glorious! The desert sings tonight!"
Shanaya hurled another wave of fire. The beast absorbed it, crimson cracks glowing hotter. Her flames turned unstable, flaring too bright, her veins glowing deeper red. She screamed, half in triumph, half in pain.
Neel's storm snapped. Lightning erupted in a violent dome, hurling shards of glass and sand outward. The beast staggered back, tusks glowing white-hot under the storm's fury.
But the whisper roared louder. "Yes! Break it! Burn it! Let the storm take all chains!"
–––
For a moment, Neel lost himself.
His eyes burned white, arcs of lightning coiling into whips that cracked across the dunes. The phantoms shattered under the assault, their wails tearing through the night. The beast shrieked, its chains shattering one by one.
Shanaya stared at him, fire dancing wildly. "Yes, Neel! Do it! Finish it! This is our power!"
Leela shoved herself between them, staff glowing with pure blue light. "No! This isn't you!"
Her barrier shimmered, catching one of Neel's stray bolts. The lightning cracked harmlessly against it, dispersing. Her voice was raw, shaking but fierce. "You're not storm alone. You're still Neel. Hold on to that!"
–––
The skull lunged again, tusks aimed at them both.
Neel's storm surged. He thrust his hands outward, lightning spiraling into a spear. But at the last moment, he turned it — not into destruction, but into chains of light.
The bolt struck the skull, not to shatter, but to bind. Lightning coiled around its tusks, its eyes, its chains. The phantoms screamed, burning away in the storm's glow.
Leela slammed her staff into the ground, water surging upward, hardening into crystal ice. The storm-wrought chains fused with the ice, locking the skull in place.
The Oasis Beast thrashed, roaring, but the bindings held. The crimson glow dimmed, fading as the skull sank back into the pool. The water hissed, boiling red before cooling to still glass.
–––
Silence.
The oasis returned to stillness, though the palms now stood blackened, the pool fractured with cracks of red. Shanaya collapsed to her knees, her flames sputtering. The glow in her veins dimmed, but her eyes still burned faintly.
She glared at Leela. "You stole it. We could have had it!"
Leela's jaw tightened. "We were never meant to."
Kabir crouched by the edge of the pool, his grin sharp. "Seal or unleash… doesn't matter. The desert doesn't forget. And now, Vessel, it knows you can bind what was never meant to be bound."
Neel stood trembling, sparks crawling faintly across his arms. His chest heaved as the whisper hissed in his skull.
"Chains… lightning… storm that binds. You think you won tonight, Vessel. But the chains you forge will be your own."
Neel shut his eyes, afraid it might be right.
–––