The cavern shook as if the universe itself wanted it silenced. Screams of dying Vanguard echoed through the air—half disintegrating into light, the others consumed by shadow.
Kaelen's flames whipped high as he blocked strike after strike, but there were too many. Traitors surged around him, their spiral marks pulsing red like open wounds. Lyra fought at his side, molten blade carving arcs of blazing steel, yet even she was slowing.
The black-armored herald strode closer, their void-sword raised, unstoppable. Every blow they struck split both stone and star-light barriers, unraveling the magic of the loyal Vanguard.
"Kaelen!" Lyra gasped, shoving him back just in time to parry a killing blow. "We can't fight all of them!"
And then the impossible happened.
The serpent—the monstrous, coiled guardian that had been their enemy since the moment they arrived—lunged not at Kaelen, but at the herald. Its colossal body crashed down, driving the void-blade off target. The cavern erupted in shockwaves, sending both loyal and traitorous Vanguard sprawling.
The serpent's voice rumbled deep inside Kaelen's mind:
"FIRE-BEARER. FIGHT ME LATER. SURVIVE NOW."
Kaelen staggered, staring. "You… want to fight with me?"
The serpent roared, tail crushing three traitors in a single sweep. Lyra's face was pale with disbelief.
The chained voice laughed, booming through the cavern.
"Pathetic. The jailer clings to his prisoner, and the prisoner clings to the fire. Burn together if you wish—it will not matter when the last chain falls."
The herald snarled and struck, void-blade carving through one of the serpent's coils. Black fire spilled like liquid night. Still, the beast didn't relent—it coiled tighter, forcing the herald back.
Kaelen felt the heat of his own fire flare with something new. Not destruction. Not rage. But choice.
He turned to Lyra, his voice raw. "If we don't work with it, we die here. Do you trust me?"
Her molten blade trembled, but she nodded. "Always."
Kaelen faced the serpent and flung his fire into its wound. Instead of burning, the flames sealed the torn shadowflesh, mending it. The serpent's eyes widened—then locked on Kaelen with something close to respect.
"THEN FIGHT WITH ME, CHILD OF FLAME."
For the first time since the chains began to break, Kaelen, Lyra, and the serpent stood side by side. And against them—an army of traitors and the herald, whose void-sword now blazed like a star gone dark.
The last chain trembled harder.
---