Page 114 of Echoes From the Void

Chapter 39

Frankie

“It has to start with you,”I tell my father, watching his massive form shift between shadow and corruption. Even here, in this space between realities, I can see how the void’s poison has worked into his very essence. Veins of void-purple pulse through his shadows, marking millennia of standing guard, of containing what would have destroyed everything. “You’ve carried this weight alone for too long.”

The Eredar’s ancient eyes fix on mine, carrying depths of understanding that make my shadow essence stir with recognition. His corrupted form towers over me, large enough to swallow reality itself, yet every movement carries careful grace.The cost would be great,his voice resonates through spaces that haven’t known sound since the first shadow fell.No child should have to bear their parent’s burden.

“And no father should have to watch his children suffer,” I counter softly, reaching up to touch his corrupted form. My shadows brush against his, feeling the familiar echo of shared essence beneath layers of ancient poison. “You’ve protected us all this time. Let me protect you now.”

Through our distant bonds, I feel my pack working similar healing above—Matteo’s new understanding of corruption, Leo’sgift for gentle shadows, all of them finding ways to restore rather than destroy. Their energy pulses like anchors to reality, reminding me I’m not alone in this impossible task.

My wolves gather close as I prepare myself, their forms adapting to void-space with ancient instinct. The alpha female presses against my leg, lending strength for what’s to come. This won’t be like healing Leo’s corruption or absorbing void essence. This is older. Deeper. The original corruption that all others spawned from.

Daughter, my father’s voice carries millennia of love.My shadow. My hope. Are you certain?

Instead of answering, I let my power rise. Let my shadows reach for his corruption with the same instinct that helped me find Finn’s light—not fighting, but accepting. Not forcing, but choosing.

The first wave of corruption hits like arctic fire in my veins.

The pain is beyond anything I’ve experienced—worse than Valerie’s “treatments,” worse than the breeding experiments, worse than separation from Finn. This isn’t just corruption—it’s primal entropy, the original darkness that existed before shadow had meaning. It burns through my essence like cosmic fire, threatening to unmake everything I am.

My wolves howl as ancient memories flood through the connection, their voices carrying harmonics that shouldn’t exist in void-space:

The first shadow falling across newly formed realities.

The void’s hunger awakening.

My father’s choice to stand guard, to become corruption’s keeper so others wouldn’t have to.

Centuries of lonely vigil as the poison worked deeper into his essence.

The moment he met my mother and first understood there could be another way.

Through our pack bonds, I feel their distant response to my wolves’ cry. Matteo’s predator nature rages against the barriers keeping him from me. Leo’s sunshine tries to pierce the void, while Bishop’s Guardian magic searches for ways to reach us. Dorian’s frost patterns attempt to stabilize corrupted space.

Stop, my father’s voice carries desperate fear as my shadows absorb more of his corruption. His massive form trembles as void-purple poison flows between us.It’s too much. You can’t?—

“Watch me,” I grit out, letting another wave of entropy burn through me. My wolves press closer, their forms blurring at the edges as they lend me strength. The alpha female’s eyes gleam with fierce determination as reality itself seems to shudder around us.

Through our distant bond, I feel Finn’s light pulse with recognition. Feel him understanding what I’m attempting, even as he continues his own vital work with the frozen light shifters. His power reaches for mine across impossible space, offering balance even here in the depths of primal dark.

Not alone, his voice whispers through our connection.Never alone again.

The third wave brings visions that steal my breath:

Our mother’s face when she first realized what our father carried—not fear of his form, but grief for his burden.

Her determination to find another way, poring over ancient texts while her belly swelled with twin life.

The moment she understood that willing sacrifice could replace forced corruption, her light pulsing with desperate hope.

The love that created us—perfect balance born from shadow and light, prophecy written in twin heartbeats.

The truth that was never about destruction, but about healing. Never about power, but about choice.

My father’s massive form trembles as more corruption flows from him into me. His essence begins to shift, centuries of poison finally releasing their hold as his shadows remember their original grace. But the pain...

The pain threatens to tear me apart. Each pulse of corruption burns hotter than the last, entropy itself trying to unmake my very atoms. My wolves’ forms waver as they fight to anchor me, their ancient power barely holding against forces that predate shadow itself.

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