Crown of Fractures

Kaelen awoke to the sound of crunching gravel.

His eyes snapped open, hand instinctively clutching the shard at his side. The fire had long since died, its embers cold and blackened, and the faint light of dawn painted the jagged ravine walls in hues of gray.

The Shatterbeast stood several feet away, its massive form tense, its glowing green eyes fixed on something beyond the edge of the ravine. Kaelen followed its gaze, his pulse quickening.

There were voices.

Low, hushed murmurs carried by the faint morning wind, echoing down into the ravine. Kaelen strained to hear, his body rigid as he pressed himself against the stone wall.

"Tracks end here," a gruff voice said, growing louder.

"Spread out," another replied, sharper and more commanding. "If he's hiding down there, we'll flush him out."

Kaelen's chest tightened. Whoever they were, they weren't scavengers. Scavengers didn't bother hunting one man this far into the Ashlands unless they knew he had something valuable.

The shard, Kaelen thought bitterly.

He reached for his dagger, only to remember the broken, splintered remains of it from the fight in the village. He had nothing but the shard—and the Shatterbeast.

The voices grew louder, and Kaelen's mind raced. He glanced at the Shatterbeast, its massive claws digging into the gravel as it let out a low, rumbling growl.

"Stay quiet," he whispered sharply.

The beast tilted its head, its glowing eyes narrowing. For a moment, Kaelen wondered if it even understood him—or if it simply tolerated his presence because of the shard. But as the voices drew closer, the Shatterbeast lowered itself to the ground, blending into the shadows of the ravine.

Kaelen let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

A shadow passed over the edge of the ravine, followed by a pair of boots crunching against loose stone. Kaelen pressed himself tighter against the wall, his fingers brushing the shard in his pocket. Its warmth steadied him, the faint hum in his mind urging him to act.

The first figure descended into the ravine, a broad-shouldered man clad in patchwork armor. He carried a serrated blade at his side, his movements slow and deliberate as he scanned the ground for tracks.

Behind him came another—a woman with a long rifle strapped across her back, her sharp eyes darting toward the shadows. Her leather coat was reinforced with metal plating, and a crimson scarf hung loosely around her neck.

Shard-hunters.

Kaelen cursed silently. He'd crossed paths with their kind before—mercenaries and bounty hunters who made their living tracking shard-bearers and selling their heads to the highest bidder.

"Anything?" the woman asked, her voice low.

The man shook his head. "Nothing yet. You sure he came this way?"

"He's here," the woman replied, her tone cold. "I can feel it."

Kaelen stiffened. Could she sense the shard? Was that possible?

The shard pulsed faintly in his pocket, and Kaelen's jaw tightened. He couldn't hide forever. If they found him, he'd be outnumbered, outarmed, and entirely at their mercy.

The Shatterbeast growled softly, its massive claws scraping against the ground.

Kaelen's mind raced. He had no weapons, no allies—only the shard and the beast. His hand slipped into his pocket, his fingers curling around the shard's smooth surface.

The whispers returned, faint but insistent.

Command them.

Kaelen hesitated, his thoughts churning. He'd barely managed to control the Shatterbeast. Could he even hope to use the shard's power against other people?

The woman stopped suddenly, her gaze snapping toward Kaelen's hiding spot.

"Wait," she said, her eyes narrowing. "Do you hear that?"

The man turned, his hand moving to his blade.

Kaelen's heart pounded. He had seconds, maybe less, to act.

He gripped the shard tightly, its light flaring in his palm. The whispers surged, filling his mind with an overwhelming chorus of voices.

"Find him!" the woman barked, her rifle swinging forward.

Kaelen stepped out from the shadows, the shard's light blazing in his hand.

"Stay where you are!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the ravine.

The shard pulsed violently, and Kaelen felt the same pressure he had felt with the Shatterbeast—the weight of something vast and intangible pressing against his mind. The shard's power surged outward, invisible but undeniable.

The man froze, his blade halfway drawn. His eyes glazed over, his body going rigid as though caught in an invisible grip.

The woman staggered back, her rifle shaking in her hands. "What—" she started, but her words faltered as the shard's power hit her. She clutched her head, her expression twisting in pain.

Kaelen's legs trembled under the strain, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Controlling the beast had been difficult enough, but this—this was something else entirely.

Hold them, the whispers urged.

Kaelen grit his teeth, forcing his will into the shard. The man dropped his blade, his knees buckling as he collapsed to the ground. The woman fell to one knee, her hands gripping her temples.

"Don't—move," Kaelen managed, his voice strained.

The shard's light flared brighter, its heat burning against his skin. The pressure in his mind grew unbearable, the edges of his vision darkening.

Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the shard's power faded.

Kaelen stumbled, his grip on the shard loosening as the strain lifted. The man and woman slumped to the ground, unconscious but alive. The shard pulsed faintly in his hand, its hum quiet and subdued.

Kaelen collapsed against the ravine wall, his chest heaving. The whispers had gone silent, leaving only the sound of his ragged breaths and the faint rumble of the Shatterbeast in the background.

For a moment, Kaelen allowed himself to breathe, his body trembling from the aftershock of the shard's power.

But as his gaze fell on the unconscious shard-hunters, unease coiled in his gut.

The shard had obeyed him, yes. But it hadn't felt like control. It had felt like something else entirely—like the shard was using him as much as he was using it.

Kaelen exhaled sharply, shoving the thought aside. He didn't have time for doubt.

The Shatterbeast approached, its glowing eyes fixed on the shard-hunters. Kaelen stood slowly, his hand tightening around the shard as he met the beast's gaze.

"Let's move," he said, his voice low.

The beast growled softly but obeyed, its massive form following Kaelen as he began climbing out of the ravine.

He didn't know where he was going, not yet. But one thing was clear: the shard had changed everything.

For better or worse, he couldn't go back now.