The hunger was dormant.
But Kaelen knew dormancy wasn't death. He'd learned that lesson too many times. The shadow would return. It always returned.
He spent his days training Lena. She was sixteen now. Strong. Fast. Her control over the Counter-Splinter was remarkable.
But something else was growing in the crystals. Something the fragment hadn't warned them about.
Elara found it during a routine scan.
“The Counter-Splinter is changing,” she said. “It's not just neutralizing the hunger anymore. It's absorbing it.”
Kaelen studied the readings. “Absorbing how?”
“The hunger's essence is being drawn into the Counter-Splinter. Slowly. But steadily. The fragment says it's a natural evolution.”
“What happens when the absorption is complete?”
“The Counter-Splinter becomes a new hunger. On
