Mara's brother grinned, firelight carving shadows into his scarred face. The hammer in his hand glowed with the same sickly green as the Thirteenth Star above.
"Jarek," Mara breathed, her crossbow trembling. "You're supposed to be dead."
"Funny." Jarek kicked Liora's tombstone, cracks spiderwebbing across its surface. "I said the same when you betrayed us."
Ethan's sigils flared, void-veins clawing up his neck.
"Step away from the grave."
"Or what?" Jarek sneered. "You'll glow at me?"
The Order's archers leveled their bows. Mara's gaze locked with Jarek's—a lifetime of rivalry in a glance.
Ten years ago.
Mara and Jarek knelt in the Order's sanctum, vows sharp on their tongues.
"No mercy for the Veyras," their master intoned. But Mara hesitated when the blade touched Liora's throat. Jarek didn't.
Now, Jarek swung the hammer.
Stone shattered. The earth screamed.
Green light erupted from Liora's grave, assembles into a massive, clawed hand that gripped the tombstone. The Thirteenth Star's breath rolled across the cemetery, rotting flowers to sludge.
"Anchor's broken," the Keeper crowed, materializing atop a crypt. "The feast begins!"
Ethan lunged, sigils blazing. Jarek met him mid-air, hammer clashing with raw starlight.
"You're too late, Duskheir!" Jarek spat. "The Star's already tasted you!"
Ethan's vision blurred—the void's whispers, the codex's song, Liora's voice.
"My blood is yours. Use it."
He slammed his palm onto the grave.
Blood dripped from Ethan's hand, mingling with the Star's light. The ground heaved. Sigils erupted in a golden chain, binding the clawed hand.
"You idiot!" Jarek roared. "You're binding yourself to it!"
Ethan gritted his teeth.
"Then I'll drag it to hell with me."
The Keeper laughed.
"Exactly as planned."
Mara's bolt took Jarek in the shoulder. He staggered, hammer falling.
"Finish it!" she screamed.
Ethan's blood sizzled, the pact reforged. The Star's hand howled, crumbling to ash.
But the sky tore open.
A single green eye stared down, pupil slit like a serpent's. The Thirteenth Star's voice shook the world.
"Mine."
Ethan collapsed, his veins now more void than flesh. Mara caught him, her hands blistering at his touch.
Jarek crawled toward the hammer.
"You've damned us all…"
The Keeper knelt beside Ethan, static-edged fingers brushing his corrupted cheek.
"Such a useful vessel. Don't worry, Duskheir—I'll make your death glorious."
Mara's dagger flashed.
"Touch him, and I'll cut your strings, puppet."
The Keeper vanished, his laughter lingering.
Dawn didn't come. The Star's eye blazed, unblinking. Ethan's breath fogged black.
"The pact's killing you," Mara said, her voice raw.
Ethan stared at his hands—half starlight, half void.
"Then let's make it count."
Somewhere, the Keeper whispered.
"Tick-tock."