The Wastes stretched endless.
Black ridges jutted like broken teeth, the ground fractured with veins of glowing red. Heat shimmered from every crack, the air thick with ash. No birds, no beasts — only silence. Even the wind seemed wary.
Neel trudged forward, sweat burning down his temples. Sparks flickered faintly at his fingertips, refusing to die even when he forced them down. Leela stayed close, her staff glowing softly, cooling the air around them. Every time she glanced at him, her eyes carried the same fear: how much of him was left?
Shanaya walked ahead, her flames dim but steady. The crimson glow in her veins pulsed faintly, in rhythm with her heartbeat. She refused to meet Leela's eyes, or Neel's.
Kabir moved like he belonged here. His panther padded silently across jagged stone, the wolves snapping at shadows. He grinned wide, teeth glinting in the ashen light. "Smell that? Death. Old, old death."
–––
They crested a ridge.
Below lay ruins.
Black stone towers lay shattered, half-buried in ash. Archways twisted like claws, sigils etched deep into the stone still glowing faintly red. The ground around them was littered with broken chains, as though thousands had once been bound here.
Leela's breath caught. "These aren't desert ruins… They're prisons."
Kabir nodded slowly, crouching to pick up a broken shackle. He turned it in his hands, smirking. "Shadow Court handiwork. Old, too. This is where they kept their pets."
Neel's chest tightened. "Pets?"
"Beasts. Mages. Anything they couldn't control." Kabir tossed the shackle aside. "And when they couldn't use them anymore, they left them to rot."
–––
As they descended, whispers grew louder in Neel's head. Not just his whisper — others. Faint, fragmented voices echoing from the stones themselves.
"…chains… broken…"
"…storm vessel… rise…"
"…we were not meant to sleep…"
Neel stumbled, clutching his head. Sparks burst uncontrolled, lighting the shadows. Leela rushed to steady him. "What is it?"
"The ruins… they're alive," he whispered.
Shanaya's eyes gleamed, her flames flaring. "Then let's wake them."
–––
They entered the largest archway, stepping into a vast hall. The ceiling had collapsed long ago, sunlight streaming in thin shafts, illuminating rows of stone pillars etched with crimson sigils.
And there — at the far end — a throne of obsidian, cracked but still pulsing faintly. Chains dangled from it like veins.
Kabir's grin widened. "Well, well. The Court's playground. How generous of them to leave it behind."
Leela's hand tightened on her staff. "Generous? This place reeks of blood. Can't you feel it? Every stone is screaming."
Neel stared at the throne, his storm sparking violently. The whisper laughed inside his head.
"Sit, Vessel. Sit, and you will know what it means to command not storm alone — but silence, and death, and chains older than the desert itself."
–––
Before he could answer, the air shifted.
A shadow rose from the throne, black smoke coiling upward, forming a figure with jagged horns and hollow eyes. It leaned forward, chains dragging behind it, voice echoing like grinding stone.
"Vessel…" it croaked. "…at last you walk where we were born."
–––
The shadow thickened, smoke weaving itself into a body. Chains dragged from its arms, scraping sparks across the black stone floor. Its face was hollow, a mask of darkness with eyes that burned faint red, as though coals smoldered deep within.
Neel's storm snapped violently, arcs sparking across the cracked pillars. The wraith's presence was suffocating, pressing into his skull like claws.
"Vessel," it rasped, voice echoing through the ruined hall. "The Court forged chains here. Bound storms. Bound fire. Bound silence. All that was broken still lingers in you."
Shanaya stepped forward, flames curling around her fists. "Then let's break you."
The wraith turned, its hollow eyes fixing on her. For a moment, her flames sputtered, twisting crimson, her veins pulsing in rhythm with its glow. She froze, teeth clenched, sweat beading her brow.
Leela darted to her side, staff blazing blue. "Don't let it in!" Water-light flooded around Shanaya, pushing back the corruption.
The wraith's hollow laughter echoed, dry as ash. "One is already marked. The fire-girl will burn whether she wills it or not."
–––
Kabir crouched at the edge of the hall, watching with a grin sharp as a blade. His panther growled low, the wolves snapping uneasily. "Interesting… You're not just a shade. You're an anchor."
The wraith inclined its head. "We are memory. We are command. We are what the Court birthed — and what it feared." Its chains rattled, dragging forward. "We offer you what they would not, Vessel. Sit. Take the throne. Rule the storm unchained."
The whisper inside Neel roared in delight. "Yes! Sit, Vessel! Claim what is yours! Break them all — fire, water, beast — let them kneel!"
Neel staggered, sparks tearing violently from his skin, the storm clawing to obey.
–––
Leela grabbed his arm, her eyes fierce, voice raw with urgency. "Neel! Don't listen! Every step you've taken since the Crystal has been your choice. Not its. Don't let them decide who you are!"
Her grip was warm, grounding. For a moment, the sparks calmed.
Shanaya, breathing hard, snapped, "Why fight it? He's meant for this! You've seen what he is, Leela. What he can do. Let him take it!"
Her eyes glowed faintly crimson as she shouted, her fire burning hotter.
–––
The wraith raised a hand. Chains uncoiled from the floor like serpents, snapping around Neel's legs and arms. They burned cold, crawling into his skin, dragging him toward the throne.
He fought, sparks exploding violently, but the chains tightened. Every step pulled him closer. The throne pulsed faint red, alive with hunger.
Kabir leaned forward, eyes glinting. "Well? Will you bind yourself… or bind the world?"
–––
The whisper screamed in triumph. "Sit! SIT! Storm and chain are one — you are their master! Claim the throne, Vessel!"
Lightning roared around Neel, thunder cracking through the ruins. The storm surged wild, tearing chains apart, shattering pillars, sparks raining from the ceiling.
Neel fell to one knee, his chest heaving. His eyes burned white, lightning lashing out in violent arcs. He was one breath away from giving in.
Leela's voice cut through the chaos, sharp as a blade. "Neel! You are not the Court's weapon. You are not their vessel. You are mine. You are ours. And you are still you!"
Her words struck harder than the chains.
–––
Neel roared. Lightning erupted in a violent dome, shattering the bindings, hurling the wraith backward. The storm coiled not to conquer — but to shield. It wrapped Leela, Shanaya, even Kabir, in sparks that burned away the encroaching shadows.
The throne shuddered, cracks splintering across its surface. The wraith shrieked, chains flailing wildly. "You refuse?! Then chains will follow you, Vessel, until the end of days!"
With a final thunderclap, the throne collapsed into shards of obsidian, the wraith dissipating in a storm of ash.
–––
Silence.
The ruins trembled, dust falling in waves. Shanaya collapsed to her knees, clutching her head, her flames sputtering. "You're a fool, Neel. We could have had everything."
Kabir chuckled, standing with a grin. "Oh, you had everything. He just chose not to keep it."
Leela squeezed Neel's arm, relief softening her eyes. "You chose right."
But Neel only stared at the shards of the throne, sparks still flickering across his hands. The whisper's voice was quiet now, but not gone.
"Break the throne… but you cannot break me. Storm and chain are one. And you are both."
–––