The world was burning.
The fire didn't roar like ordinary flames. It screamed high, distorted, hungry, clawing up the marble towers of Arkeos as if devouring the sky itself. The smoke rolled like a living beast across the broken streets. Every breath stung. Every heartbeat felt stolen.
Mhari pressed a trembling hand to her swollen stomach as her boots skidded over shattered stone. "Lith... Just hold on," she whispered. She felt the baby twist sharply, a pulse of power flickering beneath her ribs. Lith had been restless for days, but tonight he thrashed as if the whole world was crashing down on him.
Perhaps, in a way, it was.
"Mhari!" Lithos's voice cut through the smoke—steady, commanding, but fraying at the edges. Her husband emerged through a collapsed archway, his cloak torn, ash streaking his once-pristine royal armor. The golden crest of their empire was cracked across his chestplate.
Behind him lay the bodies of the last royal guards... men who had sworn to protect her with their lives. And they had.
Mhari's breath caught. "Lithos, the people—"
"They're gone." His jaw tightened. His blade dripped molten residue—whatever nightmare creature he had cut through last. "There's no path left for anyone except you."
A fresh tremor split the street, hurling dust into the air. Far in the center of the empire, the ground bulged upward in grotesque waves. Something massive was moving beneath the capital, swallowing structures whole. Temples sank. Towers folded. The palace corridors where they once laughed and argued now gutted themselves like collapsing ribs.
Mhari's through tightened until she could barely breathe.
"We should have been able to stop this," she rasped.
Lithos caught her shoulders, not rough, but urgent. "You would have fought until you died. I can't allow that. Not tonight."
She hated this—hated the truth of it. Nine months pregnant, even she—strongest mage of the empire, goddess-blessed warrior could not keep up. Every contraction stole her strength. Every surge of smoke made her dizzy. And Lith, powerful even before birth, pulled her mana inward like a gravitational storm.
She couldn't fight with him draining her.
She couldn't even walk without clothing walls.
Lithos pulled her close to steady her tremble. "The teleportation array. It's our only chance."
"W-where does it lead?" She could barely push the words out. The array was an ancient, forbidden relic—built for emergency escape, but never completed, never mapped.
Lithos shook his head once. "Anywhere safer than here."
She almost laughed—hysterical, breathless. Anywhere safer than this smoldering hell. "And if it throws us into the middle of a volcano?"
"I'll find you," he said immediately. "I'll always find you."
Another explosion shatter the nearby district. A wave of fire and debris surged toward them, but Lithos slammed his blade into the ground, erecting a barrier of shimmering force. The blast parted around them like water. Mhari's heart clenched. Even exhausted, even bleeding, he stood tall—her Kong, her husband... the last pillar of a dying empire.
But his breathing was uneven.
She saw the way his knees wobbled when the barrier fell.
He was burning through his life force.
"Lithos... h-how much mana did you use?"
"No more than necessary." His tone was crisp, but he didn't meet her eyes.
"Don't lie to me now of all times."
He hesitated. Just a second. But it was enough.
She gripped his hand tightly. "Lithos..."
He exhaled—slow, deliberate. "The forbidden seal is active."
Her stomach dropped. "Y-You used it?"
"I had no choice. The creature breached the inner circle. The guards died buying me enough time to push it back." He brushed soot from her cheek, fingers gentle even as his hands shook. "If I hadn't, it would've reached you."
She wanted to argue. She wanted to scream at him for sacrificing what little remained of his lifespan. But Lith twisted inside her, sharp and frantic, and she knew—deep down—that Lithos had been right. She couldn't defend the citizens. She could barely stay upright.
And he was fighting for three.
"Come," Lithos said. "The array is just ahead."
They moved quickly—or rather, Lithos practically carried her. The streets warped under their feet, stone melting like candle wax. A plume of black fire erupted behind them, swallowing the bodies of the dead guard. The air vibrated with unnatural shrieks as shadowed monstrosities crawled up from the fissures tearing through the city.
Creatures not born of their world.
Creatures that came for power—hers, Litho's, and especially Lith's.
Another contraction gripped her, fierce enough to make her choke on her breath. Lithos steadied her again. "Mhari?"
"I'm fine." She wasn't. But she had no intention of slowing him.
"Lith is reacting," he murmured, pressing a hand to her stomach briefly. His expression softened for a heartbeat—fatherly, proud, but then hardened again as the empire trembled. "We're out of time."
They reached the ancient chamber carved beneath the palace's ruins. Blue sigils lined the cracked floor, glowing faintly with dormant power. The teleportation array—unfinished, unpredictable, dangerously unstable.
"Lithos..." She swallowed. "You're coming with us."
He didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
She grabbed his arm. "Lithos."
He lowered his forehead to hers, sweat and ash mixing with tears she hadn't realized were falling. "Listen to me. The array needs a guide. Someone has to activate the seal while staying outside the circle."
Her voice broke. "No."
"If no one controls it, the destination will scatter your bodies across a thousand worlds."
"Then let it scatter all tree of us together."
"And leave our child without protection?" His whisper was raw. "Mhari... if only one of us survives tonight, it must be you."
Her knees almost gave out.
"I promised you," he continued softly, "that I would give our son a future. I will keep that promise—even if it's the last thing I do."
The floor rumbled violently. The chamber ceiling began to crack. Ash rained down in hot flakes. Something enormous scraped along the outer walls, its roar shaking dust from the pillars.
There was no time left.
Lithos stepped back, gently guiding her into the center of the array. The sigils flared, bathing her in pale blue light. Lith kicked again, as if sensing the imminent shift.
She reached out desperately. "Lithos, don't. Don't you dare—"
He kissed her. Not frantic. Not rushed. Just one final grounding touch.
A goodbye disguised as reassurance.
"I love you," he murmured. "Both of you. More than an empire."
Her throat closed.
Lithos turned away quickly because if he looked at her again, he might not be able to do it. His hand hovered over the activation rune. His body trembled—not with fear, but with the last remnants of power burning through his veins.
Outside, the empire howled as though begging its king not to abandon it.
Inside, Mhari sobbed with sound.
Lithos drew his final breath, raised his sword, and slammed the flat of the blade onto the rune.
The array roared to life.
Wind surged inwards like a vortex. The sigils ignited in a blinding cyclone. Mhari felt her body lift, weightless. Her vision blurred as the chamber collapsed around them.
Lithos stood firm on the edge of the circle—back straight, armor cracked, eyes shining not with despair but with unyielding love.
Through the chaos, their gazes locked.
He smiled. Quiet. Defiant. Final.
"Be safe," he mouthed. "And wait for me."
A fissure tore open behind him, revealing the monstrous silhouette of whatever had consumed their empire. A towering mass of shadows and flame, eyes like burning stars, crawling from the depths like a god of ruin.
Lithos didn't turn.
He raised his sword one last time—kingly, stubborn, unbroken.
The light swallowed Mhari whole.
The world vanished.
And Lithos... hjs silhouette faded behind a wall of fire and collapsing stone.
BLACKOUT.