Volume 3 — Chapter 20: The Mountain Pursuit
The tunnel Lyriana had blasted open shook violently as the Obsidian Peaks roared behind them. Chunks of molten stone rained from the ceiling, each impact echoing like thunder. The mountain was dying—and it wanted to take them with it.
"Keep moving!" Lyriana shouted, pulling Aryn's arm as he staggered from his injury.
Eryon struggled to keep pace, shadows flickering around him with every desperate breath. "The council—they felt the relic awaken. Their enforcers are coming. We don't have long!"
Aryn grimaced. "Of course they are… they always pick the worst timing."
The tunnel opened into a ledge overlooking a sheer drop into swirling storm clouds. Below, the mountainside split apart as if the world itself were cracking open.
A council air skiff cut through the storm—sleek, black, deadly—rushing toward them.
Lyriana cursed under her breath. "They're fast."
Three armored council enforcers leapt from the vessel, landing on the ledge with a burst of dark magic. Their faces were hidden behind silver masks etched with binding runes.
The leader stepped forward.
"Lyriana Vael. Relic Convergence Bearer. By order of the Council High Tribunal, you are to be taken alive. The others… are expendable."
Aryn raised his blade weakly. "Try it."
Eryon hissed, summoning shadow from his palms. "You will not touch her."
Lyriana stepped in front of both of them, eyes blazing with the fused relics' power.
"You want me? Then come."
The enforcers attacked.
Dark chains shot toward her, but Lyriana cut through them with a single sweep of her hand—obsidian fire and moonlight entwined. The ledge cracked under the force of her strike.
Two enforcers lunged for Aryn and Eryon. Aryn blocked one, sparks flying as steel clashed with corrupted magic. Eryon dragged the other into the shadows, their struggle echoing across the cliff.
Lyriana faced the leader alone.
"Your council's tyranny ends with me."
The enforcer unleashed a blast of void energy. Lyriana countered with pure relic light, the collision shaking the air like a thunderclap.
Aryn cried out as the enforcer attacking him landed a strike. Lyriana turned sharply—
and in that instant, the leader struck.
A chain of void magic wrapped around her wrist.
Her power flickered.
"No!" Aryn forced himself between her and the enforcer, severing the chain with a desperate slice.
Lyriana's eyes burned. The relics answered her fury.
She unleashed a storm of fused magic—white, violet, green, and black—hurling the enforcers off the ledge. The skiff veered wildly, unprepared for the surge of power.
The cliff began to crumble beneath them.
"Move!" Eryon shouted. "The whole peak is collapsing!"
Lyriana grabbed Aryn and dragged him toward a narrow path as the ledge disintegrated. Eryon leapt after them, shadows carrying him across the falling stone.
Behind them, the mountain exploded in a column of molten light.
They didn't stop running until the world fell silent.
Lyriana looked back at the collapsing peak.
Aryn caught her hand. "We survived."
Eryon stared into the burning sky.
"Yes. But the council knows what you are now."
Lyriana lifted her chin, eyes fierce with destiny.
"Then let them come. I'm ready."