The secret chamber still hummed with ancient power as Drago stepped backward from the glowing mural—its symbols still rearranging themselves in his mind, forming a picture he was barely ready to accept. His parents. Their legacy. The Fallen.
The moment he whispered what he had learned, everything changed.
Yul stared at him first, eyes wide, her fingers tightening around her twin crescent blades.
Pelon stepped back, bow trembling in his hand.
Abi clutched her new shield as if it were the only thing keeping her steady.
JS and NJ exchanged looks—fear, shock, then determination.
But they didn't step away.
Only Snow's group did.
Snow's expression twisted with disgust. "I knew it. I knew something was wrong with him."
Sara stepped forward, cold smile sharpening. "So you're Fallen. A perfect specimen."
Alex cracked his knuckles. "Commander will want him sedated. Alive."
Rayan activated his comm. "Target confirmed. Move in."
Boots hit the soil outside the chamber—AAG agents. Dozens.
Drago stumbled back as his heart slammed in his chest.
"No… please. I don't want to fight anyone."
Snow sneered. "You don't have to fight. Just surrender."
But before anyone could move—
Yul stepped in front of Drago.
Her voice cracked like lightning. "You'll have to kill us first."
JS and NJ flanked her. Abi raised her shield, the sigils on it burning with blue fire. Pelon braced his bowstring, the essence inside it vibrating with deadly tension.
In the shadows, half invisible to their senses…
Saryus Bostrika watched.
Unblinking.
Silent.
Studying.
THE FIRST STRIKE
The chamber flashed red as AAG laser sights locked onto Drago.
"YUL—!" he shouted.
Too late.
Snow barked the order.
"Open fire!"
The agents unleashed a storm.
Abi slammed her shield down, a circular barrier exploding outward with a thunderous BOOM. Energy rounds deflected in every direction. Sparks showered the chamber walls.
Pelon fired an arrow so fast it blurred—piercing an agent's visor, dropping him instantly.
JS leapt over Drago, spinning midair, staff cracking an agent's jaw sideways with a sickening snap.
NJ shot forward like a ghost, twin daggers flashing, carving through armor seams and dropping two more.
Blood sprayed the stone floor.
Snow grinned. "Good. Kill yourselves for him."
Sara stepped forward, runes crawling up her arms.
The temperature dropped.
THE BATTLE ERUPTS
Sara slammed her hands together.
ICE PILLARS erupted from the ground, forcing Yul to leap back.
One pillar missed Drago by inches.
Alex rushed Abi, fists coated in metallic energy. His punch slammed into her shield, the shockwave cracking the stone under them. Abi skidded back but held the line.
Rayan activated a chain-spear that lashed out and wrapped around JS's leg.
"Saw you coming," JS growled.
He twisted, snapping the chain, and rammed his staff into Rayan's ribs, sending him crashing into a pillar.
But more AAG agents flooded the chamber.
Pelon fired again—
An agent blocked it and rushed him. Pelon ducked, rolled, and shot an arrow straight upward. It curved midair… and buried itself in the back of the agent's skull.
Blood dripped onto Pelon's cheek.
He didn't flinch.
Yul's daggers crackled with storm-light. She dashed toward Snow.
Snow countered with blades of ice. The two clashed in a burst of sparks and frost, slashing, spinning, tearing into the floor.
JS and NJ fought back-to-back against four agents at once, the chamber echoing with bone-breaking thuds and wet impacts.
Drago couldn't breathe.
Couldn't move.
Could only watch.
"I'm… hurting them," he whispered. "It's because of me."
Abi shouted without looking back, "YOU are the reason we're fighting, not falling!"
Another agent charged her. She bashed him with her shield so hard it dented his helmet inward.
Blood smeared the shield's rim.
Her eyes blazed.
SNOW'S FINAL GAMBIT
Snow leapt high, ice forming wings behind her.
She aimed her palm at Drago.
"Forget capturing him—HE DIES NOW!"
Drago froze.
But Yul was faster.
She appeared in front of him, spinning both daggers, unleashing a storm carving technique she had never used before.
A tornado of slicing wind erupted, shredding Snow's ice beam and slicing across Snow's shoulder.
Blood sprayed the air.
Snow screamed and fell back.
"YUL!" Snow barked, clutching her wound. "You side with a MONSTER?!"
Yul growled back through gritted teeth.
"He's my friend."
THE FALLEN OBSERVER
High on the chamber wall, unseen by all but Drago…
Saryus Bostrika stepped closer.
Tall. Armored in obsidian plates. Eyes glowing like dying embers.
His voice was a whisper only the stone could hear:
"So this is the child of Arkrion and Selistra… Interesting."
His fingers hovered over the carved sigils in the wall.
"This chaos reveals more truth than any archive."
He watched as JS was tackled.
As Abi screamed while blocking Alex's crushing punches.
As Pelon's arrows ran low.
As Yul's arms began to tremble from exhaustion.
He watched Drago shaking—not from fear but from guilt.
Saryus murmured:
"If he awakens here… the council must be warned."
THE FINAL MOMENTS OF THE FIGHT
Sara slammed both palms into the stone.
Ice spikes exploded upward, impaling two AAG agents accidentally in her fury. She didn't care.
"Rayan! Alex! We're ending this!"
Alex lunged toward Drago—
NJ blocked him—
Alex punched NJ so hard he flew into a pillar, coughing blood.
"DRAGO, RUN!" JS roared as he tackled another agent to the ground.
Pelon fired his last arrow. It pierced a drone that was about to fire on Drago.
Abi collapsed to one knee, shield vibrating, metal dented to hell.
Yul stepped in front of Drago again, both daggers crossed, panting, bleeding.
Drago whispered, "Please stop… I'm not worth dying for…"
Yul didn't turn to him.
Her voice was soft, but unshakable:
"You're worth more than you think."
SARyUS MAKES HIS DECISION
Saryus closed his fist.
"I have seen enough."
He stepped backward into a rift of swirling gray fire.
"Let the council decide his fate."
He vanished.
No one noticed.
Not yet.
THE CLIFFHANGER ENDING
Alex, Sara, Rayan, Snow, and the remaining AAG agents stood regrouping across the chamber.
Yul's team formed a battered wall around Drago.
Both sides breathing hard.
Bleeding.
Silent.
Then—
A deep rumble shook the chamber.
The sigils on the walls lit up.
The ground cracked.
A pulse of Fallen energy surged from beneath the floor—
so powerful everyone froze in place.
Even Drago felt it.
A voice echoed in his mind.
"My child… it is time."
Drago collapsed, eyes glowing.
The entire chamber erupted in blinding light.