CHAPTER 47 — The Heart of the Forest Burns
The forest was alive, but it was screaming.
Kieran could feel it under his feet, through his veins, in the black sap that clung to his arms. Every tree, every root, every shadow was vibrating with tension, trembling in anticipation of the destruction that had already begun. The Titanbound scouts were falling, but their numbers seemed endless, a tidal wave of stone and molten fury.
And above it all, towering over the carnage, Korran—the warlord himself—loomed like a mountain of wrath, molten veins pulsating with raw, uncontainable heat.
Kieran's sword burned with Ironroot energy, the black sap coating its edge thick and sticky. He swung, narrowly deflecting a swinging club of molten rock from one of Korran's scouts. Sparks flew, illuminating the dread etched across the Shadowblade's face beside him.
"We can't hold them much longer!" the Shadowblade hissed, bleeding from a deep cut along their ribs. Their golden eyes glinted, reflecting both determination and desperation. "Every second we fight, they adapt faster!"
Kieran didn't answer. He didn't have the luxury. His every sense was attuned to the Ironroot, and the Ironroot itself was screaming in fury, reacting to every movement of the Titanbound. Roots whipped through the air, entangling the scouts' legs, constricting, crushing, but more came.
A low rumble shook the forest. It wasn't from the scouts. Not this time.
It was Korran.
The Titanbound lifted a colossal arm, veins glowing like molten lava. The air shimmered from the heat, scorching leaves and branches before they even touched the ground. He roared, and the sound was like the tearing of mountains. Trees shattered under the force, roots ripped from the earth, and the forest's ground trembled beneath Kieran's feet.
Kieran's heart thudded. This wasn't just a battle. It was an apocalypse condensed into a single forest glade.
The Shadowblade struck first, moving like a shadow made real. Their blade flashed, slashing at one of Korran's ankles. Sparks and molten flakes erupted, but the Titanbound barely flinched. With a swing of his other arm, the Shadowblade was sent hurtling through the air, skidding along the blackened forest floor. Pain shot through their body, but they scrambled upright, eyes blazing with rage.
"We need more than this!" Kieran shouted over the cacophony of breaking trees, snapping roots, and molten destruction. "We need to make him bleed, truly bleed!"
The Ironroot pulsed under his feet. Roots shot up in response, snaking around Korran's legs like serpents, twisting and crushing with unyielding strength. Lava hissed as the black sap touched the Titanbound's molten skin. Korran grunted in frustration, swinging wildly, breaking the roots, but with every strike, more surged from the ground.
Kieran lunged, sword raised. His blade cut deep across Korran's chest, and for a moment, the Titanbound's roar faltered. Molten liquid ran from the wound, sizzling as it touched the forest floor. Korran's golden eyes flickered—not with pain, but with calculated fury.
"You… dare…" he rumbled, voice shaking the trees themselves. "…to strike me?"
Kieran's breath came ragged. "I dare," he said. "Because if we don't fight, the forest dies. And if the forest dies, you destroy everything with it!"
The Titanbound roared again, slamming a fist into the ground. The shockwave threw Kieran and the Shadowblade backward. The earth split in great fissures, roots tearing away from the soil as if the forest itself were being ripped apart.
Kieran barely managed to roll clear of a crushing boulder. Black sap oozed from his arms, coating his skin. The Ironroot's whispers filled his mind, urgent, frantic, but also fierce. It was alive. It wanted to survive. And it had chosen him as its champion.
The Shadowblade recovered, lunging again, moving through shadows as though reality itself bent around them. They slashed at Korran's arms, forcing him to stagger, his molten fists colliding with trees instead of their target. Sparks rained down from the canopy as branches shattered.
But Korran was adapting. Every swing, every movement of the Shadowblade or Kieran was countered, anticipated. The Titanbound's strength was unimaginable, his instincts beyond human comprehension.
Korran's eyes locked onto Kieran, and the world seemed to shrink to the space between them. The Titanbound advanced, each step a promise of annihilation. Kieran braced, sword gleaming, roots curling around his legs for balance.
"You are stronger than the others," Korran growled. "But strength alone does not save you."
Kieran gritted his teeth. "I don't need strength alone. I have the Ironroot."
At that, the forest responded. Roots erupted from the ground like jagged spears, lashing at Korran's legs, binding him tightly. Vines snaked around his arms, holding him momentarily in place. Lava hissed as roots burned but did not break. The forest was alive, fighting with him, not for him.
The Shadowblade struck again, slicing across Korran's molten chest, leaving black-purple lines glowing where metal met stone. Korran staggered, molten rivulets dripping down his form, his immense heat shimmering in waves across the forest.
Kieran's heart raced. "Now!" he shouted. "Push him back!"
Together, he and the Shadowblade attacked in a synchronized rhythm. Strike, dodge, parry, retreat, repeat. Every strike, every movement, was reinforced by the Ironroot. Roots lashed from the soil, branches struck from above, and shadows twisted to hide their movements.
But the Titanbound's roar echoed across the clearing, a sound so powerful it shook the very ground. One swing of his massive arm sent the Shadowblade skidding across the earth again. Kieran leapt, narrowly avoiding being crushed, feeling the heat singe his hair.
And then, the forest pulsed again.
This time, deeper. Darker. Older. The Ironroot was revealing a hidden power, one it had held for centuries, one it had never needed to show until now.
Roots surged from every tree, every stone, converging into massive black tendrils that formed shapes like monstrous limbs, faces, and claws. The forest itself had become a living guardian, rising to protect Kieran and the Shadowblade.
Korran roared, striking wildly at the massive forms, but the Ironroot's new power was overwhelming. The tendrils twisted around him, restricting movement, scratching and burning, even digging into the Titanbound's molten skin. Lava hissed and spat, but the forest did not relent.
Kieran pressed forward, sword glowing with black sap. He slashed, ducked, and parried, moving as an extension of the Ironroot itself. The Shadowblade recovered, moving with him in perfect coordination, each strike precise, each maneuver lethal.
Korran's eyes blazed. "YOU… WILL… FALL!" he shouted, each word shaking the forest.
Kieran's jaw tightened. "Not tonight."
The battle raged, hours slipping by unnoticed. Trees fell, roots shattered, the air thick with heat, sap, and molten stone. Every strike, every roar, every movement carried the weight of life and death, of the forest and the Titanbound warlord.
And somewhere deep in the Ironroot, Kieran felt it: a pulse of intelligence, a surge of awareness, a command. Fight. Survive. Protect.
He gritted his teeth and lunged again. This time, the Shadowblade followed, side by side, a deadly shadow dancing with roots and blade.
The forest had chosen its champion.
And together, they would not fall.