Corruption

Linnea saw the change from the shore. The mist turned black. The water began to boil.

"Kai!" she screamed.

Kai exploded out of the water. He didn't walk; he flew, propelled by a burst of chaotic, corrupted Qi. He landed on the shore, cracking the earth.

He looked terrifying. His skin was pale, veins of black energy crawling up his neck. His eyes were burning red.

The other students screamed and ran. The Elders shouted for containment seals.

Linnea didn't run. She ran toward him.

"Kai! Stop! It’s an illusion!"

Kai turned to her. He didn't recognize her. Or rather, he recognized her too well.

"You lied," Kai rasped. His voice was layered, two tones speaking at once. "You said he was far away. But he is in my head. He is in the water."

He stepped toward her. The air grew heavy, suffocating.

"You love him," Kai accused. "You look at me and you wish I was him."

"No," Linnea wept. "Kai, please. Listen to me."

Kai grabbed her shoulders. His grip was bruising. He pinned her against the trunk of a Spirit Tree.

"Tell me," he hissed, his face twisted in anguish. "Is he stronger? Does he touch you like this?"

He slammed his hand against the tree, shattering the bark next to her head.

"I will kill him," Kai vowed, tears of blood leaking from his eyes. "I will tear this world apart until I find him, and I will kill him, so you have no one left but me."

It was happening. The tyranny. The obsession. The end of the world.

Linnea realized with horror that *she* had done this. Her lies, meant to protect the timeline, had fueled the very insecurity that destroyed him. She had created the monster by trying to save the boy.

She couldn't fight him. He was overflowing with the lake’s power.

She had to tell the truth. Even if it broke the laws of time.

"Kai," she whispered.

She reached up. She didn't push him away. She cupped his face, her thumbs brushing away the blood tears.

"He isn't someone else," she said.

Kai froze. "What?"

"The man I love," Linnea sobbed. "The man who taught me. The man who burned the world."

She pulled his face down to hers.

"It's you."