Chapter 493: Shattered Eclipse.

Chapter 493: Shattered Eclipse.


(Third Person's POV)

The cavern was quieter than it had any right to be. Moments ago, it had felt like the world itself was tearing apart—darkness swallowing light, stone trembling under power that didn’t belong to it. Now, after Stella’s desperate gamble, everything hung in a strange, suspended stillness.

Marcus lay collapsed at the center of the cavern, his body sprawled against the cold stone, chest rising in shallow, uneven breaths. His skin was slick with sweat, veins darkened like ink beneath the surface. The red crystals embedded in the cavern walls pulsed faintly, their glow dimmer than before, as if even they were uncertain of what came next.

Stella knelt beside him, her hands gripping his shirt like she was afraid he might dissolve if she let go. Her forehead rested against his chest, her shoulders shaking. She hadn’t stopped crying since he fell.

The rest of them stood back, forming a loose circle, weapons still drawn, tension still coiled tight in their bodies. No one trusted this silence.

“He’s not moving,” Theresa whispered, her voice rough. She kept glancing between Marcus and the shadows in the cavern, as though expecting something to rise up again.

Brian wiped blood from his lip, wincing as he shifted his weight. “He’s breathing,” he said, more to reassure himself than anyone else. “That’s something.”

Alec crouched a few steps away, eyes narrowed, his hand hovering near the dagger at his side. “Breathing doesn’t mean safe.”

Killian stood beside Taylor, his hand hovering near her shoulder without touching her, like he wasn’t sure if grounding her would help or make things worse. His face was pale, silver scars still faintly visible beneath the skin where the poison had once eaten into him. Taylor stared at Marcus. Or more accurately, she stared at Stella.

Stella’s hands were trembling as she pressed them against Marcus’s chest, as if she could physically keep his heart beating by sheer will. Her lips moved silently, words no one else could hear. Prayers. Promises. Pleas.

Dylan leaned against a broken pillar, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Blood streaked down his temple from a cut above his eye, but he didn’t seem to care. His gaze was fixed on Marcus with something that wasn’t hatred anymore. It looked like dread.

“Is it working?” Theresa finally asked, her voice breaking the silence.

Taylor swallowed. “The powder was designed to put him into a deep state between consciousness and spirit. If it worked… he should be fighting it now.”

“And if it didn’t?” Brian asked quietly.

No one answered. Stella suddenly gasped, her grip tightening. “He’s— he’s shaking.”

Marcus’s fingers twitched, then curled into fists. His jaw clenched, teeth grinding so hard the sound echoed faintly in the cavern. A low growl rumbled in his chest, rising in intensity.

Taylor’s heart slammed against her ribs.

“This is it,” Alec murmured. “He is in an iternal battle.”

The air around Marcus thickened, pressure building again, but not as violently as before. Shadows crawled along the cavern walls, gathering near him like smoke drawn to a fire.

Stella looked up, her eyes wild. “No. No, don’t come near him. Don’t touch him.”

Theresa stepped closer despite the warning. “Stella, if the spirit takes control again—”

“I don’t care,” Stella snapped, tears streaking down her face. “I’m not stepping away. You said it yourself. The bond, emotions, they matter. He needs to feel me.”

Dylan let out a bitter laugh. “Or you’re just making it harder for him to fight.”

Stella shot him a look sharp enough to cut. “Shut up.”

Marcus’s back arched suddenly, his body lifting slightly off the ground as if something inside him was trying to tear its way out. A distorted voice slipped from his lips, layered over his own.

“He is weak.”

Taylor flinched. “That’s not him.”

The shadows coiled tighter, forming a vague silhouette above Marcus’s body, like a figure made of smoke and hate.

“Love is weakness. Bonds are chains.”

Stella pressed her forehead against Marcus’s chest harder, her voice breaking. “Marcus, listen to me. Listen to me. That thing is lying. You’re not weak. You’re stubborn. You’re reckless. You’re infuriating. But you’re not weak.”

Marcus’s hands clawed at his own head, fingers digging into his hair. “Get… out…” he rasped, his voice cracking between his own tone and the spirit’s.

The shadow pulsed. “She will die because of you.”

Marcus screamed, a raw, guttural sound that made Taylor’s stomach twisted. Stella sobbed, clutching his shirt. “I don’t care. I’ll die with you if that’s what it takes. I’m not leaving. Our child isn’t growing up without you.”

That did it. The shadow recoiled slightly, as if Stella’s words physically struck it. Marcus’s eyes flew open, flashing between pitch-black and his natural color. “Don’t— say that,” he snarled, breath ragged. “You’re not allowed to say that.”

Stella let out a broken laugh through her tears. “Then fight. Fight it. Don’t let it win. Don’t make me a widow before I even become a mother.”

Taylor felt Killian’s hand finally settle on her shoulder. His grip was steady, grounding. She didn’t pull away. The shadow surged again, forcing Marcus’s body into another violent convulsion. “You are mine.”

“No,” Marcus growled. “I’m not.”

Stella lifted her head, eyes blazing through tears. “Marcus. Feel me. Feel us. Feel the bond. Feel the child.”

Marcus’s hand moved—slowly, shakily—until it rested over Stella’s stomach. His fingers trembled.

The shadow shrieked, its shape distorting violently.

“Attachment is poison.”

“Then poison me,” Marcus snarled, his voice gaining strength. “Because I choose it.”

The cavern shook. The shadow writhed, splitting into tendrils that tried to force their way back into Marcus’s chest. He screamed, arching again, but his hand never left Stella.

“Get out,” he roared. “Get out of my body.”

Taylor felt something in her chest loosen, like a knot slowly untying. He was winning.

The shadow screamed, its form tearing apart under the combined assault. Marcus’s body jerked as if something was being ripped from his core. He screamed, but his grip on Stella never loosened.

Finally, with a sound like glass shattering, the shadow exploded into fragments of black smoke that dissolved into nothing. The cavern went completely still. Marcus collapsed, his body going limp, his breathing shallow but steady. For a terrifying moment, no one moved. Then Stella laughed—a broken, hysterical sound—and collapsed over him, pressing her face into his chest.

“He’s— he’s here,” she whispered. “He’s back to me.”

Theresa sagged to her knees, exhausted. Brian leaned against the wall, panting, sweat dripping down his face.

Alec lowered his dagger, exhaling slowly. “It’s gone.”

Killian closed his eyes briefly, relief flooding through him. He looked at Taylor, who was staring at Marcus with a mixture of disbelief and awe.

“The eclipse,” Taylor whispered.

They all looked up. The red light filtering through cracks in the cavern ceiling was fading, replaced by normal darkness. The oppressive weight that had pressed against their chests since entering the cave lifted, as if the world itself had taken a breath. The solar eclipse was ending.