The galaxy burned in two places at once.
The Battle Unfolds
Admiral Veyric's fleet held formation like a wall of iron, but the Harbinger's armada crashed against it with the fury of a hurricane. Cannon fire seared across the blackness, shredding ships into molten shards. The void flickered with detonations, like a thousand suns being born and dying in moments.
"Line Beta is collapsing!" Commander Hrynn's voice cracked through the din of alarms. "We can't hold against this pressure!"
"Reinforce with the Third Wing!" Veyric commanded, his voice a calm blade against panic. "If the Harbinger wants to crush us, he'll pay for every inch in blood and steel."
The Iron Wraith bore down on them, its spines glowing with hellfire. Every strike sent tremors through the Sovereign's shields, rattling the bones of every soul aboard.
Across comms, the Harbinger's laughter echoed—deep, guttural, triumphant.
"Your line breaks, Veyric! Your people die screaming! And still you stand? Good. Stand until I tear the defiance from your bones!"
But even as the carnage mounted, the Seer Azhira's fleet drifted silently, untouched. Her ships shimmered like phantoms, observing. Waiting.
And beyond them, the Echo Lord's vessel pulsed once, a throb of despair that silenced every cry across the comms for a heartbeat. Even battle-hardened captains shuddered, their eyes clouding with dread.
Within the Labyrinth
Far from the fire, Kaelen and Lyra pressed through the shifting corridors of the labyrinth. Each wall pulsed with alien runes, alive with whispers that clawed at their thoughts.
Lyra stumbled, clutching her head as voices overlapped in a thousand tongues. "It's… it's feeding on the war," she gasped. "Every death fuels it. The labyrinth is… drinking it."
Kaelen steadied her, jaw tight. "Then we end this before it feasts on the galaxy."
But even as he spoke, the walls stretched, reshaped, revealing a chamber vast as a cathedral. At its center floated a crystalline spire, bleeding starlight. Around it—shadows moved.
Figures in broken armor. Echoes of warriors long dead. Their hollow eyes fixed on Lyra.
"The Seedbearer…" they whispered in unison, voices like shattering glass. "The key. The vessel."
Kaelen stepped forward, blade drawn, but Lyra's hand on his arm stopped him. Her eyes blazed with sudden fire.
"No. This is my fight."
She closed her eyes and let the Seed within her stir. Energy rippled from her chest, pure and blinding. The echoes shrieked, recoiling, yet their voices did not fade.
"Claim it… or be unmade."
The labyrinth's spire pulsed harder, as though waiting for her choice.
The War Tightens
Back outside, the Sovereign's shields buckled under another barrage.
"Shields at thirty percent!" an officer cried.
"Hold them!" Veyric roared. "Every moment we hold buys her time!"
On the viewport, the Iron Wraith loomed larger, its maw glowing with a weapon charging—something vast enough to split a moon.
"Admiral," Hrynn said, despair in his voice, "if that fires—"
"It won't."
Veyric's eyes burned like a storm as he turned to the gunnery crews. "Target their charging core. All batteries. Fire on my mark."
The deck shuddered as the Sovereign spat its fury. Beams of searing light slammed into the Harbinger's warship, ripping away plating, exposing its molten heart. The Iron Wraith howled in pain, venting fire into the void.
Yet still it charged.
And still Azhira waited.
And still the Echo Lord lingered, a shadow too vast to comprehend.
Two Fronts, One Fate
Kaelen's blade clashed with the echo-warriors as Lyra fought to control the Seed's power. Each strike reverberated through the labyrinth, the walls themselves groaning as though alive.
"Lyra!" Kaelen shouted over the storm of shadows. "Whatever choice you're meant to make—make it now!"
Her eyes snapped open, blazing with determination. She stepped toward the spire, the whispers tearing at her mind. She could feel the war outside—the dying screams, the fire, the despair—flowing into the labyrinth's core.
And in that moment, she understood:
If she touched it, she would not remain Lyra Solenne. She would become something else.
The spire pulsed. The Seed within her answered.
Outside, the Iron Wraith unleashed its weapon. A beam of annihilation lanced toward the Sovereign—
And Lyra laid her hand upon the spire.