The Abyss had been patient.
But no more.
Lucian had denied it. Defied it.
And now, the Abyss was done waiting.
The Calm Before the Storm
They moved quickly. Faster than before.
Selene's fire burned at her fingertips, casting flickering golden light against the crumbling ruins. Ash was silent, their usual sarcasm replaced by a wary sharpness.
Lucian knew why.
Even though he had fought back, even though he had rejected the pull of the Abyss—
It wasn't over.
The Abyss had tested him. He had resisted.
And now, it was going to push back harder.
The air was too still. Too quiet.
Something was coming.
And they all felt it.
The Forsaken Return
It started as a distant hum.
A deep, resonant sound that vibrated through the stone beneath their feet.
Then—
The shadows moved.
Selene spun around, fire blazing in her hands. Ash's daggers were already drawn.
Lucian felt them before he saw them.
The Forsaken.
They stepped from the darkness, their figures fluid and shifting, like they weren't fully bound to this world. Their eyes glowed with abyssal silver, fixed entirely on him.
They weren't attacking.
They were waiting.
Lucian's pulse pounded. He forced himself to take a step forward, jaw tight. "I already told you," he growled. "I am not one of you."
The Forsaken didn't move.
Then, one of them—a woman with twisting, ink-like veins beneath her skin—stepped forward.
"You defy the Abyss," she said. Her voice was smooth. Too smooth. Like a whisper of silk across steel. "But the Abyss does not forget."
Lucian's grip tightened on his sword. "I don't care."
The woman tilted her head. A slow, eerie smile stretched across her face.
"Then perhaps," she murmured, "it is time to remind you… exactly who you are."
Lucian barely had a second to react before the ground split apart beneath him.
Lucian Falls
It happened too fast.
One moment, he was standing his ground.
The next—
Darkness swallowed him whole.
Selene's scream was the last thing he heard before the Abyss ripped him away.
And then, everything was black.
The Abyss Awakens
Lucian hit the ground hard.
The impact sent a shockwave of pain through his body, but he barely had time to react before the whispers returned.
Stronger. Louder.
"You thought you could resist us?"
Lucian staggered to his feet, breath ragged. He was no longer in the ruins.
This place was different.
A vast, empty expanse stretched before him, its sky an endless swirl of black and violet. The ground beneath him was not solid—it pulsed and shifted, as if it was alive.
Lucian clenched his fists. "Where am I?"
"Home."
Lucian's stomach twisted.
No.
No, this was not his home.
He would not belong to this place.
But the Abyss wasn't done yet.
The whispers twisted together, forming a single voice.
A voice that sent cold terror through Lucian's veins.
Because it was his own.
And it was laughing.
The Abyss Shows Him the Truth
The shadows around him shifted.
And suddenly, Lucian was not alone.
Figures stepped from the darkness.
Some were human. Some were monsters. Some were twisted versions of both.
But the worst part?
Lucian recognized them.
He had seen them before.
Fought them.
Killed them.
But they weren't enemies.
They were like him.
Abyssborn.
And they had once stood exactly where he was standing now.
"You are not the first," the voice whispered. "And you will not be the last."
Lucian's breath came shallow. His heart pounded against his ribs.
Because suddenly—terribly—he understood.
The Abyss didn't just want him to join it.
It wanted him to lead it.
Selene Won't Let Him Go
Somewhere, far away—
A voice cut through the darkness.
"Lucian!"
Selene.
Lucian's head snapped up. A golden light flared in the distance, pushing back against the shadows.
And suddenly—
The Abyss screamed.
Lucian felt the pain of it, deep and raw, like a wound being torn open.
Selene's power was burning through it.
Fighting for him.
But the Abyss was not done with him yet.
The shadows lunged, coiling around his limbs, dragging him deeper.
"Do not fight us."
Lucian gritted his teeth.
And then, for the first time—
He reached for the light instead of the darkness.
Lucian Escapes… But Not Alone
The moment his fingers touched the light, something snapped.
The Abyss shrieked as its hold on him broke.
Lucian's body was yanked upwards, the darkness crumbling away beneath him.
And then—
He was back.
Back in the ruins. Back with Selene.
Her hands were still glowing with fire, her breathing ragged. She had pulled him out.
Lucian gasped, his entire body trembling. He could still feel the Abyss inside him, its voice still whispering in the back of his mind.
But it had made one mistake.
It had shown him too much.
Because now, Lucian knew the truth.
He was not just fighting the Abyss.
He was its heir.
And it was never going to let him go.