The bronze coin blazed with a steady, relentless light.
Clek stood in the garden, the shard of black crystal cold against his skin, the power of the Keeper surging through his veins like a river of fire. The power was returning faster now, growing stronger with each passing day. He could feel it in the ground beneath his feet, in the air around him, in the desperate hope that flickered in the eyes of the survivors.
But the darkness was still there, pulsing at the edge of his awareness. The echoes of the First Darkness were gone, destroyed by his sacrifice. But something else was rising, something new and terrible. The power was returning, but so was the threat.
Aria's presence flickered in his mind, soft and warm. "Clek. You need to rest. You've been pushing yourself too hard."
"I can'
