The mist churned like boiling water, pale shapes flickering inside it. Yena's pulse hammered in her ears. Those eyes...she could swear they belonged to someone long gone.
The masked figure didn't give her time to think. "Shaman....left!"
She turned just as a creature lunged, its jaw unhinging with a sickening crack. She shoved a talisman into its chest, the paper flaring bright. It dissolved into ash mid-snarl.
Joon was already in the thick of it, blade flashing, cutting through the air but not the sigils. "They keep reforming!" he shouted.
"Then break the seals!" the figure barked, their chain snapping out to wrap around another creature's throat.
"That'll kill me, remember?" Joon shot back, irritation sparking through his voice.
A pale claw swiped for him.....Yena yanked him aside just in time. "Better cursed than corpse!"
Something shifted then.....an icy wind rushing through the courtyard, carrying with it a metallic tang. Yena's breath misted. The creatures froze mid-movement, their glowing sigils flickering.
She realized why when she saw it: the talisman she'd been saving....her strongest one....was gone from her sleeve.
It was plastered on Joon's back.
The sigils on every creature pulsed once… then all turned toward him.
Joon stared at her. "What did you do?"
Yena swallowed. "Made you irresistible bait."
From the mist, dozens of jaws opened in unison.
The sound was deafening....a chorus of hunger and rage that rattled the very air.
Joon's grip tightened on his sword. "You've got about three seconds to explain why this was your plan."
"No time," Yena shot back, already pulling a fresh strip of talisman paper from her satchel. Her fingers worked fast, ink brush scratching symbols in a blur. "Just don't die."
The creatures surged as one, a tide of claws and teeth converging on him. Joon met them head-on, blade slicing through the first, sidestepping the second, but every kill was temporary....their forms shimmered and reformed, drawn again by the talisman's lure.
The masked figure moved in the shadows, chain snapping out to drag one beast into the path of another. "If you're using him as bait, girl, then tell me you have a net."
"I do," Yena said, knotting the last stroke of the seal with a flourish. "But it needs them all in one place."
"You do realize I'm 'them all in one place,' right?!" Joon gritted, dodging a swipe that would have opened his throat.
A creature leapt high, aiming for his back. Yena's heart lurched....then she slapped the finished talisman onto the stone courtyard floor. The ink burned gold, lines spreading out like spiderweb cracks.
"Joon....jump!" she shouted.
He didn't hesitate. He vaulted over the glowing seal just as every creature lunged for him. The moment their feet crossed the web's lines, the ground blazed white, swallowing them in a blast of light so bright it turned the mist transparent.
When it faded, only scorched sigils and silence remained.
Joon landed hard, breathing ragged. "Next time," he panted, "bait the masked guy."
The masked figure tilted their head, voice dripping dry amusement. "You wouldn't survive my bait plans."
Yena was about to retort....when a low, inhuman voice whispered from the mist's edge:
You've broken the seals… now the gate will open.
The mist around them seemed to pulse, retreating just enough to reveal a dark shape in the distance....tall, jagged, and crowned with a faint crimson glow.
Joon straightened, still catching his breath. "Tell me that's not what I think it is."
"It's worse," Yena murmured, eyes locked on the shadow. "That's the gate."
The masked figure stepped forward, chains whispering against the stone. "And it's waking up."
A deep rumble vibrated through the courtyard. Hairline cracks splintered the ground, glowing the same crimson as the distant shape. The air thickened, each breath tasting of metal and ash.
Yena's fingers tightened around her satchel. "We have minutes....maybe seconds....before it opens completely."
Joon glanced between her and the masked figure. "Then we close it. Now."
The masked figure gave a quiet laugh, low and humorless. "Close it? Girl, prince… this isn't a door you shut. It's a mouth. And once it starts eating…"
The rumble deepened, turning into a roar that seemed to come from beneath their feet.
From the cracks, blackened claws began to rise.
The mist recoiled as though something immense had drawn a breath. The courtyard, moments ago echoing with battle, now pulsed with an unnatural stillness.
A thin fissure split the far wall....hairline at first, then widening with the sound of cracking stone. From within seeped a faint red glow, like embers trapped under ice.
Yena's throat went dry. The gate…
"Tell me that's just an architectural flaw," Joon muttered, though his sword lifted, point steady toward the crack.
The masked figure didn't answer immediately. They stepped forward, the faint clink of their chain the only sound. "That's no flaw. That's a threshold....and something's pushing from the other side."
The fissure pulsed again, and a wave of heat rolled out, carrying a smell of ash and decay. Yena's talisman pouch felt suddenly lighter, as if the wards inside were already wilting.
"They weren't after you," she whispered. "They were after this… drawing us here to break the last barrier."
"Then close it," Joon said, urgency edging his voice.
"I can't," Yena replied, panic flaring in her chest. "Not from this side. Once it starts....."
The crack shuddered violently, light bleeding into the mist, and a shadow moved behind it...taller than the wall itself, limbs too long, eyes glowing like molten gold.
The voice came again, clearer now, each syllable like a blade scraping glass:
The gate is mine.
The fissure exploded outward in a hail of stone. Something stepped through.
The courtyard shook as the figure emerged from the breach.
It was no beast, no human....something caught between the two. A towering frame wrapped in shadows, its skin like cracked obsidian veined with fire. Two curling horns crowned its head, and from its back unfurled tattered wings that glimmered faintly as though dipped in starlight.
Yena stumbled back, clutching her pouch. Every charm inside rattled violently, reacting to its presence.
The creature's molten eyes fixed on her first. It tilted its head, almost curious, before shifting its gaze to Joon.
"Crown Prince," it rumbled, its voice resonating through the ground. "Your blood is the key. You will come with me."
Joon raised his blade. "Over my dead body."
The creature's grin revealed rows of jagged teeth. "That can be arranged."
Before either could move, the masked figure stepped forward, throwing a small, shimmering seal into the air. It expanded mid-flight, forming a golden barrier between the creature and the three of them.
The impact came instantly....flames erupted as the creature's claw met the barrier. Sparks shot across the courtyard, and the golden light dimmed under the force.
"Run!" the masked figure barked.
Yena hesitated, torn between her instinct to flee and the undeniable pull to stand her ground. Something in the creature's gaze had felt… familiar.
"Yena!" Joon's voice snapped her back.
The barrier shuddered again. Cracks of light formed....just like the wall before it.
It wouldn't hold for long.
The golden barrier shattered with a deafening crack.
A wave of scorching air swept through the courtyard, hurling Yena off her feet. Joon caught her by the wrist, yanking her toward the nearest archway. The masked figure followed, tossing seal after seal behind them...each one flaring briefly before being torn apart by the creature's relentless strikes.
"Move faster!" the figure snapped.
They tore through the palace corridors, their footsteps echoing off marble floors. The familiar scent of incense mixed with the acrid sting of smoke. Outside, guards shouted, their voices quickly silenced by unearthly roars.
The palace that had once felt like a gilded cage now became a maze of survival.
"Where are we going?" Yena gasped.
"To the hidden hall," the masked figure replied. "It's the only place strong enough to buy us time."
Behind them, the creature's claws gouged deep furrows into the stone walls as it gave chase, moving faster than something so massive had any right to.
A sharp turn.....then a sudden dead end.
"What is this?" Joon demanded, eyes narrowing.
The masked figure pressed a hand against a panel in the wall. Symbols ignited, and the stone began to shift, opening a narrow passage.
"Inside. Now."
They slipped through just as the creature's shadow fell over them.
The panel slid shut.....seconds before a claw slammed against it, the sound reverberating like thunder.
The creature's muffled voice seeped through the stone:
"You can't hide from me, Crown Prince. The moon is rising… and so is your curse."
Yena's heart clenched.
Joon's grip on his sword tightened.
The worst was yet to come.