The World Tree screamed.
Nathan felt the sound through his bones—a deep, grinding groan that shook the floor and made the vines on the walls convulse. Sylvara stood at the center of the hall, her body wrapped in living vines, her eyes black as the void outside. The thing inside her smiled with her mouth, and it was wrong. Wrong in a way that made Nathan's skin crawl.
"I am the voice of the broken throne," it said again, and its voice was many voices layered together. "I have waited centuries for a Climber who could hear me. And now you have come."
Nathan raised Moonlight. "Release her."
"Release?" The thing laughed, and the vines tightened around Sylvara's limbs. "She is my vessel now. The Shepherd's seed is deep in her blood. It has been for years. She simply did not know."
Elise stepped forward, Aurora's Heart blazing. "We'll cut it out of her."
"Will you?" The thing tilted Sylvara's head. "You will have to catch me first."
The vines exploded outward.
---
The battle began.
