Page 36 of Beyond the Treaty

The fight was a blur of motion and instinct, yet something deeper stirred within me, something raw and volatile. Every swing of my sword felt heavier, more decisive. My vision sharpened, narrowing the world to the immediacy of battle. It wasn’t merely adrenaline; it was power, coiling like a serpent beneath my skin, ready to strike.

Withers watched from the periphery of the chaos, his expres- sion shifting from smug confidence to cautious calculation. “You can feel it, can’t you?” he calls out over the commotion.

“The power awakening within you. It’s yours, Kaelen. It will consume you. And you will be better for it.”

I cut down another enforcer, their weapon clattering to the ground. “You’re a liar, Withers! I now know who you truly are.” I snarled. “Evil.”

Withers sneered, raising his gauntlet high. The runes erupted in a surge of light, and the ground beneath me trembled violently. The earth cracked open in jagged lines, and from its depths came a sound, a low, guttural growl that seemed to vibrate through my very bones. The shadows surrounding us thickened, twisting and writhing like living creatures.

I staggered back, my heart pounding as something immense began to emerge. At first, it was merely a shape, a hulking,indistinct figure crafted from darkness itself. It was me, but not me. I can recognise its features, but something wasn’t quite right about it.

The beast’s gaze locked onto me, and I felt a pull, as though an invisible chain connected us. My pulse quickened, dread clawing at the edges of my mind. I was bound to this other me. I couldn’t run, I was frozen in time.

Withers’ voice sliced through the beast’s roars. “Meet your true self, Kaelen,” he stated, his tone rich with triumph. “The power within you, unshackled and raw. This is why you cannot be left unchecked. This is what you will unleash upon the world. Pure darkness and ruin.”

The beast let out an earth-shattering screech, and a surge of energy rippled through me, mirroring its fury. My knees buckled, my sword slipping from my grip as the pull between us intensified. Memories, visions, flashed through my mind, too swift to process. A battlefield drenched in blood. A city consumed by flames. This was doom. My doom. Elara’s doom.

“No!” I shouted, rising to my feet. “This isn’t who I am. Whatever this is, it doesn’t have control over me!”

The dark figure’s eyes narrowed, its dead gaze searing into my soul. In that moment, I realised the truth: the Council had not been trying to protect me. They had been trying to use me, to use this. And now, they intended to awaken it fully, regardless of the cost.

Withers stepped forward, his gauntlet glowing ever more brightly. “It’s not about control, Kaelen. It’s about inevitability. You can’t fight what you are.”

I clenched my fists, the power within me surging in response to the beast’s presence. My voice was low, steady, and filled with defiance. “Watch me.”

CHAPTER 22

The forest was hauntingly silent, a kind of silence that gnawed at the edges of my sanity. Each step I took sent echoes into the void, the crunch of dead leaves underfoot feeling unnaturally loud. I needed to go home. I needed to lock myself away. I don’t know where Withers and his enforcers went. I just have to get out of Lunairis. The moonlight barely penetrated through the gnarled branches above, and the shadows seemed to shift with intent, as though they were alive.

I could still feel it, thethinginside me, coiled and waiting. Its presence was no longer a flicker at the edges of my mind but a steady pulse, a heartbeat that didn’t belong to me.

Ahead, the forest opened into another clearing, and there stood Withers again, his face a mask of calm triumph. The enforcers flanked him, their weapons gleaming in the pale light. They stood between me and the path to Ebonshade Keep, yet I felt no fear.

“Kaelen,” Withers said, his voice smooth and mocking. “Running from destiny, I see. How predictable.”

I halted just before the clearing, my hand instinctively gripping the hilt of my blade. “Get out of my way, Withers.”

He smirked. “Oh, Kaelen. Do you stillthink you have a choice in any of this? The Council has shaped you, moulded you, and now... It’s time for you to fulfil your purpose.”

The beast stirred at his words, its presence surging like a wave of poison through my veins. My breath caught, and I

staggered back, clutching my chest.

“Stop fighting it,” Withers said, stepping closer. “You’ve

resisted for far too long. Let it out. Let it consume you.” “Shut up!” I growled, but my voice cracked beneath the

weight of the beast’s pull.

Withers extended a hand, and the enforcers began to chant.

The air thickened, charged with a dark energy that seeped into the ground, the trees, and the very fabric of the forest.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head as the beast screeched inside me, clawing at the walls of my mind. “I shan’t allow you,

”

“You have no choice, Kaelen,” Withers interrupted, his eyes

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