Chapter 44

The cavern’s oppressive heat clung to them like a second skin, the air thick with the acrid scent of sulfur and the faint, metallic tang of blood. Aria knelt beside Rollan, her hands trembling as she brushed a stray lock of hair from his forehead. His tiny chest rose and fell steadily, his mark glowing faintly in the dim light, but the sight of him—so small, so vulnerable—twisted her heart. I almost lost you, she thought, her throat tightening. She pressed a kiss to his brow, her lips lingering as if to ward off the lingering dread.

Caden stood nearby, his sword still drawn, his sharp eyes scanning the cavern’s shadowed corners. His broad shoulders were tense, his jaw set in a hard line. “We can’t stay here,” he muttered, his voice low and taut. “That cult bastard could be back any second.”

Torren, leaning against a jagged rock, wiped sweat from his brow with a grimy sleeve. “And those Hollow Ones aren’t far behind. We’re sitting ducks in here.”

Elara cradled the Orb of Destiny, its golden light pulsing faintly in her hands. She turned it over, her brow furrowed in concentration. “The orb’s reacting to the fragment we just took. It’s like they’re… communicating.” She glanced at the jagged crystal in Caden’s pack. “The final piece—it’s close. I can feel it.”

Aria rose, cradling Rollan against her chest. “Where? We need to end this before they catch up.”

Elara closed her eyes, letting the orb’s energy guide her. “North. Deeper into the peaks. There’s a place—ancient, sacred. It’s where the prophecy began.”

Caden’s gaze flicked to the cavern’s entrance, where the air shimmered with heat. “Then we move. Now.”

They gathered their gear, the weight of exhaustion dragging at their limbs. As they stepped toward the exit, a faint whisper echoed through the chamber—soft, insidious, like the hiss of wind through dead leaves. Aria froze, her skin prickling. “Did you hear that?”

Torren’s daggers were already in his hands, his eyes darting to the shadows. “Yeah. And it’s not the wind.”

The whispers grew louder, a chorus of voices speaking in a tongue long forgotten. From the cavern’s depths, shapes began to emerge—ethereal, translucent figures, their forms flickering like dying flames. Their eyes were hollow sockets, their mouths open in silent screams.

“Wraiths,” Elara breathed, her voice trembling. “Spirits bound to the prophecy. They’re drawn to the fragments.”

Caden’s grip tightened on his sword. “Can we fight them?”

Elara shook her head. “They’re not physical. Steel won’t touch them. But the orb…” She lifted it, its light flaring brighter. The wraiths recoiled, their whispers turning to shrieks.

“Keep it raised,” Aria urged, her heart pounding. “We’ll push through.”

They moved as one, Elara leading with the orb held aloft, its golden glow carving a path through the spectral horde. The wraiths hissed and clawed at the edges of the light, their touch leaving trails of frost on the stone. Aria shielded Rollan, her breath clouding in the sudden chill, her skin crawling with each brush of their ghostly fingers.

They burst from the cavern into the open air, the wraiths’ wails fading behind them. But the reprieve was brief. The ground trembled beneath their feet, a low rumble that grew into a deafening roar. Cracks spiderwebbed across the path, and with a violent shudder, the earth split open, revealing a gaping fissure that belched smoke and ash.

Aria stumbled back, clutching Rollan as the ground threatened to swallow them whole. “Caden!”

He grabbed her arm, pulling her to safety as the fissure widened. “We need to go around,” he shouted over the din. “There’s a ridge to the east—higher ground.”

They scrambled up the slope, the air thickening with heat and the stench of sulfur. The path narrowed, forcing them to edge along a cliff face, the drop below a dizzying void of jagged rocks and molten veins. Aria’s heart hammered, her arms aching from holding Rollan so tightly.

At the ridge’s crest, they paused, catching their breath. The landscape stretched before them—a hellscape of smoldering peaks and rivers of lava, the sky choked with ash. In the distance, a single spire rose above the chaos, its peak crowned with a faint, pulsing light.

“The final fragment,” Elara whispered, her eyes wide with awe and trepidation. “It’s there.”

Torren wiped grime from his face, his expression grim. “And likely guarded by something worse than a golem or wraiths.”

Aria’s gaze flicked to Rollan, his tiny hand clutching her tunic. Fear gnawed at her, a mother’s terror for her child’s safety. “Can we do this?” she asked, her voice barely audible. “Can we keep him safe?”

Caden turned to her, his hand cupping her cheek, his touch warm against her skin. “We have to,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “He’s our son, Aria. We’ll fight for him—with everything we have.”

She leaned into his touch, drawing strength from his resolve, though doubt still lingered in her heart. *What if it’s not enough?*

A shadow passed overhead, swift and silent. Aria looked up, her blood chilling as a figure descended from the sky—a man cloaked in black, his eyes gleaming with unnatural light. The cult’s master.

He landed gracefully on a nearby outcrop, his lips curling into a cold smile. “You’ve done well to come this far,” he said, his voice smooth as silk. “But the final fragment is not yours to claim.”

Caden drew his sword, stepping protectively in front of Aria and Rollan. “You’ll have to go through me first.”

The master’s smile widened, his hand raising to summon a swirl of dark energy. “As you wish.”

Before he could strike, the ground trembled once more, and from the fissure below, a massive form emerged—a dragon, its scales blackened by ash, its eyes burning with the same fiery light as the fragment.

The cult master’s smile faltered, his gaze flicking to the beast. “It seems the guardian has awakened.”

Aria’s heart seized. Another guardian. The dragon’s roar shook the mountains, its wings unfurling to blot out the sky.

The master turned back to them, his expression unreadable. “Survive this, and perhaps you’ll prove worthy of the prophecy’s end.”

With a flick of his wrist, he vanished into the shadows, leaving the group to face the dragon’s wrath. The beast’s eyes locked onto them, its maw opening to reveal a furnace of flame.

Caden’s voice cut through the roar. “Run!”

They fled along the ridge, the dragon’s fiery breath scorching the path behind them. The final fragment was within reach, but the true test had only just begun.