Mag-log inMy fingers trembled around the hilt of the dagger. The sharp silver point rested against Gideon’s chest, cutting through his leather armor and drawing a tiny bead of crimson blood that dripped onto my hand."Drive it in..." Gideon gasped again, his hand forcing mine tighter against the steel. "Please, Lyra... kill me..."His single golden eye searched mine, begging me with a desperate, heartbreaking terror. My breathing hitched, tears blinding my vision until his face became a blur of pale skin and black veins.I couldn't do it.Every muscle in my body locked up. My soul screamed against the thought of plunging a blade into the heart of the man who had given up everything to keep me breathing. To kill him was to kill the very reason I was still standing."I can't," I choked out, a ragged sob tearing from my chest. "Gideon, I can't... I love you too much..."The momentary hesitation was all the ancient entity needed.A cruel, guttural roar echoed from deep within Gideon’s throat, drown
Gideon didn't hesitate for a single second.He moved with speed that didn't belong to any living Alpha. Swinging his broadsword in a wave of black fire from the steel, slamming directly into the advancing line of Ironclaw soldiers."Fall back!" Captain Vane screamed, shoving two younger men out of the way as the dark flame ripped through stone and armor alike.The shockwave blew the northern guards off the platform, sending them tumbling down the shattered steps. Before anyone could recover, Gideon turned his pitch-black eyes toward Malakor’s remaining shadow wing guard and survivors who were crawling out from the surrounding debris.A wild, dark rampage began.Gideon didn't just fight; he slaughtered. He charged into Malakor’s remaining forces like a storm of pure destruction. His kinetic shockwaves, now corrupted by pitch-black fire, shattered bone and tore through iron shields in single, brutal strikes. Shadow beasts shrieked as he tore them apart with his bare, dark-veined hands,
The dark shadow-tendril slammed me onto the altar stone with bone rattling force. Before I could scramble away or push myself up, Malakor stepped onto the platform, pinning my shoulders down against the cold granite."Finally," Malakor whispered, his breath smelling of dark ash and old iron. "The true vessel."I thrashed against his crushingly heavy grip, but my drained body refused to obey. I could only watch in terror as he raised his left hand, drawing a wicked, jagged dark dagger from the folds of his silk robes. The dark metal dripped with a terrifying purple sheen that hummed in resonance with the glowing crown on his head."Release her" Gideon screamed from the edge of the dais, his voice raw and bleeding with pure agony.Malakor paid him no mind. He brought the dark dagger down until the icy tip rested directly over my heart, pressing hard enough to pierce through my tunic and draw a thin drop of blood."With this living blood, the rift shall open," Malakor intoned, his glowin
Malakor stood upon the central dais, looking down at us like we were nothing more than insects waiting to be crushed beneath his heel."Look at you both," Malakor sneered, his voice echoing off the stone pillars with a chilling, metallic edge. "The great Alpha Commander cradling his broken little princess. Did you truly believe your pathetic resistance would change the outcome of this night?"He raised his right hand, flaunting the Crown of the First King resting on his pale brow. The jagged, ancient metal pulsated with a sickening dark energy, sending visible ripples of purple light through the cold air.Gideon’s arms tightened around me, his body shaking with a dangerous mixture of exhaustion and raw, protective fury. I tried to stand, but my legs buckled immediately under the lingering weight of the magical drain. My elemental core felt completely hollowed out, my lungs burning with every shallow breath."Stay down, Lyra," Gideon growled softly against my ear, his voice thick with
"Lyra, stop! Stop right now!" Gideon’s voice screamed through the roaring storm of magic, filed with panic. "Pull back!"I ignored his desperate pleas. I put my bare hands even deeper into the scorching, white hot sand, driving my fingers past the surface until the heat charred my skin.Air. Water. Fire. Earth.I forced every remaining drop of my elemental reserves down through my arms and straight into the dark subterranean ley lines. The power tore through my body like liquid lightning, ripping my muscles and burning my veins from the inside out."Break the cages” I shrieked, forcing my magic to surge through the underground stone channels. "Release them!"An explosion hit the desert floor as my combined elemental magic struck the iron locks of the underground holding cells. Deep beneath the arena, thousands of cage doors shattered severing the siphon draining the captured imperial citizens.With the siphon destroyed, the fifty-foot wall of crimson blood-fire gave a violent, shudd
The wall of crimson blood fire roared into the black night, throwing scorching heat and red light across the desert dunes. The air turned suffocating, thick with the stench of burning copper and dark sulfur."Hold the line!" Captain Vane shouted, his voice barely cutting through the deafening roar of the flames as his horse reared back in terror. "Protect the vanguard!"Behind the fiery ring, the remaining four thousand five hundred soldiers of our combined army were completely cut off. Only Gideon, myself, Julian, Captain Vane, and five hundred Ironclaw riders were trapped inside the outer ring of the Eclipse Altar.A guttural, bone-rattling howl shook the sand beneath our feet.From the shadows near the base of the central altar, towering figures rose into the night air. Three giant, shadow-bound ancient behemoths,monstrous beasts constructed of dark obsidian stone, dark smoke, and glowing crimson runes stepped into the light of the blood-fire. Each beast stood forty feet high, thei







