The Northern Highlands were still trembling from the last confrontation, a reminder of the damage Kieran's unstable proto-Core form had left behind. The mountains bore deep scars, cracks glowing faintly with crimson residue. Even the wind felt heavy, as if the land itself was bracing for what came next.
Sera stood at the cliff's edge, golden aura faintly flickering around her like a heartbeat. Her wolf paced beneath her skin, restless and alert. Nights had passed since Kieran vanished into the crimson vortex, but the energy he left behind still pulsed through the land like a sickness.
Theron approached quietly, his silver-golden threads forming a light veil around him. He set a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"You feel it too."
Sera didn't look away from the horizon. "He's close. Closer than before. He didn't disappear… he relocated."
Theron nodded. "Kael located something. A breach."
Sera turned to him sharply. "A breach?"
Theron exhaled slowly. "A tear in the energy field. Something Kieran forced open from the inside."
Her wolf growled low. "Show me."
Theron extended a thread, forming a small shimmering projection between them. A massive crater appeared — but not the one from their previous duel. This one was deeper, darker, and pulsing with unstable crimson energy that crawled along the rocks like veins.
Kael's voice crackled across their link.
"That's where he is. Or at least where he was."
"Was?" Sera questioned.
"He's moving," Kael said. "Whatever he's doing… he's preparing for the final stage of the Core."
Sera's jaw tightened. "Then we move now."
Theron stepped in front of her. "We have to be careful. The proto-Core is unstable. If he forces the merge—"
"I know." Sera's golden eyes darkened. "But waiting won't make him weaker. It only gives him time."
Her wolf pressed forward inside her, urging movement, urging confrontation.
Theron studied her for a long moment. "Then let's go."
---
The Descent Into the Breach
They followed the trail of energy through broken stone corridors and collapsed mountain paths. The deeper they went, the more distorted the environment became. Cracks glowed crimson, shadows moved unnaturally, and air hummed with thick, unstable energy that crawled across their skin.
Theron extended his threads to stabilize the ground ahead of them.
"Kieran pushed the fragment energy too far. This entire area is warped."
Sera knelt, touching a scorched mark on the stone. A faint echo of Kieran's aura lingered — unstable, jagged, and pulsing with desperation.
Her wolf recoiled.
"He's losing himself."
Sera whispered, "He's becoming the Core."
Theron looked at her sharply. "You think the proto-Core is overriding his human side?"
Sera stood. "It's consuming everything — his thoughts, his will, his identity."
"And his obsession with you," Theron said quietly.
Sera didn't answer. She didn't have to.
They continued deeper until the path split open into a vast cavern. The ceiling towered high above them, pierced by jagged crimson energy lines. The ground pulsed like a heartbeat.
Sera inhaled sharply.
At the center of the cavern lay a massive, swirling pool of crimson-black energy. It twisted like a living storm, whispering in a voice that felt too close to a human scream.
Theron frowned. "It's a breach… but not natural."
A voice echoed through the cavern.
"No breach is natural when desperation demands creation."
Sera spun.
Kieran stepped from the far shadows, aura flickering wildly. His crimson-black energy rose and fell erratically, his skin cracked like fractured glass. But his eyes — those dark crimson eyes — were fixed entirely on her.
"Sera," he whispered. "You came."
Her wolf snarled, fur bristling beneath her skin.
Theron shifted into a defensive stance, threads forming sharp arcs behind him. "Kieran — step away from the breach."
Kieran ignored him as if he didn't exist.
"Sera… do you feel it?" He extended his trembling hand toward the swirling storm. "This is what destiny looks like. Power unbound. Fate rewritten."
Sera stepped forward, golden aura rising. "This isn't destiny. It's ruin."
Kieran's cracked lips twisted into something between a smile and a wounded grimace. "Ruin is only the first stage of transformation."
---
The Breach Awakens
The crimson pool behind Kieran surged upward, rising into a pillar of raw hybrid energy.
Theron swore. "He's feeding the proto-Core through the breach! Sera, we need to cut him off now!"
Threads shot toward the breach — but the moment they touched the energy, they shriveled and collapsed.
Kieran tilted his head. "Your threads can't handle Core energy, Theron. Only Sera can."
Sera's heart thudded. "What are you trying to do?"
Kieran's voice broke. "Merge with it. Break fate. Become more than this dying form."
Theron's eyes widened. "If you merge with that breach, you won't survive."
Kieran laughed — a cracked, brittle sound.
"I don't care about surviving. I care about winning."
His gaze locked on Sera again.
"And winning means having you."
Sera's aura burst outward.
"You don't own me!"
Her wolf howled, flooding her body with golden strength.
---
The Clash at the Breach
Kieran launched forward, crimson-black energy spiraling around his fists. Sera met him head-on, golden aura exploding into a shockwave. Their collision sent ripples across the cavern, shattering the stone beneath their feet.
Theron moved in, threads striking like lightning, aiming for Kieran's weak points — the cracks spreading across his skin.
Kieran twisted, dodging one thread and grabbing another midair. Energy surged through him and into the thread, corrupting it.
Theron hissed as the thread shattered.
"His energy is mutating faster than I can counter!"
Sera ducked under a crimson arc and struck Kieran in the chest. Light burst from the impact — and for a heartbeat, Kieran faltered.
His eyes softened.
"Sera… don't leave me."
The wolf inside Sera lunged.
"Strike now!"
She did.
Golden energy slammed Kieran into the cavern wall.
But instead of weakening him… the breach pulsed violently.
The crimson storm behind him surged forward, latching onto Kieran's body like tendrils.
Theron shouted, "Sera — get back!"
Kieran gasped, energy threads crawling across his skin.
"It's pulling me—"
The breach dragged him backward, fusing more of the proto-Core into him.
Kieran screamed.
Not in pain — in power.
When he rose again, his form had shifted.
More energy than flesh. More Core than man.
Sera stepped back, horror tightening her chest.
"Theron… he's turning into a full Core conduit."
Theron's voice trembled. "If he completes that transformation, he will become unstoppable."
"And he'll come for me first," Sera whispered.
Kieran's eyes snapped open — glowing, pure crimson.
"Sera…"
He smiled — the kind that promised death and devotion at the same time.
"I'm coming."
---
Retreat
Theron grabbed Sera's arm. "We need to go. NOW."
Sera hesitated — but the wolf pushed her.
"Run now. Fight later."
Theron tore open a path with his remaining threads. Crystals shattered, rocks collapsed, energy surged, but they escaped just as the cavern erupted behind them.
Kieran's roar echoed through the mountains.
"SERA!"
---
Outside the Breach
They emerged into the cold open air, both gasping.
Kael's voice came through immediately. "What happened? The entire mountain lit up red!"
Sera leaned against the rocks, breath trembling. "He's changing. Becoming something worse."
Theron turned to her, expression grim.
"Sera… the final battle won't be about stopping him."
She met his eyes.
"I know."
"It will be about surviving him."
Her wolf lifted its head inside her, eyes blazing.
"We will."
Sera straightened, golden aura flaring despite her exhaustion.
"Kieran wants the Core. He wants me. He thinks fate ties us together."
She clenched her fists.
"But fate didn't choose this. I did."