The runes pulsed faster now, as if sensing their intent. Each symbol glowed with a heartbeat of molten gold, threads of heat weaving between them like veins beneath skin.
Rondan knelt, pressing his palm to the stone. The power thrummed through his bones—wild, dangerous, alive.
"We break even one of these lines," he said, "and the circle will falter."
Leina's silver eyes swept over the floor. "Not without a price."
Before he could ask, the ground split with a deafening crack. Ash poured upward, swirling into the shape of a towering figure—its form shifting like smoke, its eyes twin embers burning with silent rage. The creature's body was neither flesh nor stone; it was a moving storm of cinders, bound together by the runic fire.
"Guardian…" Leina whispered. "They bound it here to protect the Heart."
The Ashen Guardian's arm swept outward. A wave of scalding dust ripped across the chamber, searing exposed skin and choking the air. Rondan shielded his face, rolling aside just as a molten fist struck the spot where he had stood, leaving a crater of glowing rock.
He rose, drawing a dagger—the only blade still intact after the masked man's flames.
"I'll draw its attention. You find the weak point in the circle."
Leina hesitated, then nodded, dashing toward the far side of the chamber, her movements quick and precise.
The Guardian lunged, each step shaking the floor. Rondan met it head-on, his strikes flashing through the swirling ash, each cut burning his arms with the heat. He couldn't tell if his blows hurt the creature—but he had to keep it focused on him.
At the edge of the chamber, Leina traced a crack in the runes. "Here… this is it." She slammed both palms to the stone, chanting in a low, rapid voice. The symbols around her flared, resisting, but the light began to flicker.
The Guardian sensed the shift. It turned from Rondan, surging toward her—
"Not so fast!" Rondan roared, leaping onto its back, driving his dagger deep into the glowing core between its shoulders.
The creature let out a soundless scream, its ash-form convulsing. Leina's chant reached a crescendo—
And with a final, thunderous crack, a section of the runic circle shattered. The glow of the chamber dimmed.
The Guardian's form broke apart, scattering into a thousand sparks before vanishing into nothing.
Silence fell, broken only by Rondan's heavy breathing.
Leina stood, her face pale but resolute. "One link is broken… but the Heart still beats."