The air crackled with tension as Kael squared off against the twisted form of Erathis. His body, still reeling from the explosive discharge of the Heart's energy, screamed in protest, but there was no time for weakness. Every fiber of his being screamed for him to act, to fight, to protect everything he had sacrificed for.
Erathis's blackened eyes glimmered with an otherworldly hunger, his fingers twitching as tendrils of darkness swirled around him. The shadowy power that had once been a mere tool was now a living extension of the man who had once been a close ally, now corrupted beyond recognition.
"You still don't understand, do you, Kael?" Erathis's voice was a low, mocking drawl, as if he relished every moment of this dark revelation. "You think by destroying the Heart, you've won. But you're wrong. The Heart is more than just a thing. It's a force. And that force can never truly die."