Chapter 50

• The private dimension was unusually quiet as Kael stood alone in the Training Grounds, staring at the shimmering shield containing the Shard of Eternity. Its faint hum was constant, almost hypnotic, as though it were alive, watching him.
• The Shard’s whispers had grown louder since the recovery of the Nexus fragment, its presence pressing harder against Kael’s mind. Every time he used it, the toll was heavier, and the price it demanded became clearer.
• “You cannot escape me, Keeper,” the Shard’s voice resonated in his thoughts. “You wield me to save the Nexus, but you resist my power. Why?”