Chapter 8: The Raid

The armory was a fortress.

Concrete walls. Razor wire. Searchlights sweeping the snow.

It sat on a frozen cliff edge overlooking the sea.

Lycian parked the jet two miles out.

"Stealth mode," he said.

"The sensors here are sensitive."

"They pick up thermal signatures."

Arielle looked at the complex through binoculars.

"How many guards?"

"Fifty. Maybe sixty."

"Plus automated turrets."

"And three Battle-Mages."

Arielle lowered the binoculars.

"Battle-Mages are annoying."

"They shield everything."

"Can you handle the physical guards?"

Lycian checked his assault rifle.

"I can handle an army."

"I need you to neutralize the Mages."

"Drop the shields."

"Then I go loud."

They moved through the snow.

Arielle didn't leave footprints.

She floated an inch above the ground.

A trick she learned from the Void Core.

Lycian moved like a ghost.

For a massive man, he made zero noise.

They reached the perimeter fence.

It hummed with electricity.

"Ten thousand volts," Lycian whispered.

"If I touch it, alarms trip."

Arielle placed her hand near the wire.

She didn't touch it.

She pulled.

The electricity jumped from the fence to her hand.

It crackled and sparked.

She absorbed it.

The hum died.

The lights on the fence flickered out.

"Door's open," she whispered.

Lycian cut the wire.

They slipped inside.

The courtyard was patrol central.

Guards with dogs walked in pairs.

The dogs stopped.

They smelled something.

Not a scent.

A void.

They whined and pulled at their leashes.

"Something's wrong," a guard muttered.

He shined his flashlight toward the shadows.

The beam hit Lycian.

"Intruder!"

POP. POP.

Lycian fired twice.

Silenced shots.

The guard dropped.

The dog lunged.

Lycian caught it mid-air and snapped its neck.

Ruthless. Efficient.

"Alarm!" another guard shouted.

Sirens wailed.

Red lights flashed.

The element of surprise was gone.

"Go loud!" Lycian yelled.

He dropped the rifle.

He shifted.

The Storm Wolf exploded into the yard.

He was a blur of grey fur and violence.

He tore through the guards like paper.

Bullets bounced off his thick hide.

He was unstoppable.

But then the Mages came out.

Three of them.

Wearing white robes.

They stood on a balcony overlooking the yard.

They chanted in unison.

A golden dome appeared over the guards.

CLANG.

Lycian hit the barrier.

He bounced off.

He roared in frustration.

He clawed at the light.

It burned his paws.

"Hold him!" the lead Mage shouted.

"Fireball!"

A massive ball of fire formed in the air.

It hurtled toward Lycian.

He couldn't dodge. He was cornered.

Arielle stepped out of the shadows.

She didn't run.

She walked.

Calmly.

She raised her hand toward the fireball.

"Mine," she whispered.

The fireball didn't hit Lycian.

It swerved.

It flew straight into Arielle’s palm.

She caught it.

The fire swirled around her hand, harmless.

She crushed it into a spark.

The Mages gasped.

"Impossible!"

"Anti-magic field is active!"

"How can she cast?"

Arielle looked up at the balcony.

Her eyes were purple vortexes.

"I'm not casting," she said.

"I'm eating."

She pointed at the golden dome.

CONSUME.

The Void lashed out.

Black tendrils shot from her fingers.

They latched onto the dome.

They sucked.

The golden light flickered.

Then shattered like glass.

The guards screamed as their protection vanished.

Lycian roared in triumph.

He leaped back into the fray.

Without the shield, the guards were meat.

Arielle turned her attention to the Mages.

"You three look tasty."

She floated up.

Levitation. Another new trick.

The Mages panicked.

"Lightning Bolt!"

"Ice Spike!"

They threw everything at her.

She didn't block.

She let the spells hit her.

Lightning? Delicious.

Ice? Refreshing.

Every spell made her stronger.

Every attack fed the monster.

She landed on the balcony.

The Mages backed away.

"What are you?" the leader stammered.

"I'm the bill," Arielle said.

"Kaelen owes a debt."

"I'm here to collect."

She grabbed the leader by the face.

The purple light flared.

He didn't scream.

He just evaporated.

His mana, his life, his soul.

Gone.

Absorbed.

The other two Mages tried to run.

Arielle waved her hand.

Gravity Crush.

They slammed into the floor.

Their bones snapped under the pressure.

"Stay," she commanded.

"I need witnesses."

Below, the battle was over.

Lycian stood atop a pile of broken bodies.

He was covered in blood. Not his own.

He shifted back to human form.

He was panting, but grinning.

"Shields down," he called up.

"Good work, Glitch."

Arielle floated down.

"Armory is open," she said.

They walked into the warehouse.

It was stacked floor to ceiling.

Weapons. Ammo. Artifacts.

"This is enough to arm a rebellion," Lycian said.

"Or start a war," Arielle added.

"What do we take?"

Lycian grabbed a crate of C4.

"We take nothing."

"We burn it all."

"Deny the enemy."

They rigged the place.

Charges on the ammo piles.

Charges on the fuel tanks.

Charges on the support pillars.

"Timer set," Lycian said.

"Five minutes."

They walked out.

The two surviving Mages were still pinned on the balcony.

Watching.

"Tell Kaelen," Arielle shouted to them.

"Tell him the Moon is falling."

"Tell him Arielle Wren sends her regards."

The Mages nodded frantically.

Terror etched into their souls.

Lycian grabbed Arielle.

"Run."

They sprinted to the jet.

Lycian fired up the engines.

They lifted off just as the timer hit zero.

BOOM.

The explosion was massive.

A mushroom cloud of fire and snow rose into the night.

The shockwave shook the jet.

The armory was gone.

Erased from the map.

Arielle watched the fire burn.

It was beautiful.

"That felt good," she admitted.

Lycian laughed.

A rare, genuine sound.

"You're a pyromaniac."

"Maybe."

"But admit it, Lycian."

"We make a good team."

Lycian looked at her.

His eyes were soft for a moment.

"We do."

"The Wolf and the Witch."

"Kaelen won't sleep tonight."

They flew back to the Haven in silence.

But it was a comfortable silence.

The bond between them had shifted.

It wasn't just a transaction anymore.

They had bled together.

They had burned things together.

That was a bond stronger than any oath.

Arielle leaned back in her seat.

She closed her eyes.

She could still feel the Void Core humming in her chest.

It was happy.

But it wanted more.

It always wanted more.

And she knew exactly where to get it.

"Lycian," she said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Next time..."

"Let's hit the Bank."

Lycian grinned in the dark.

"You're greedy."

"I'm hungry," she corrected.

"And the world is a buffet."