The air grew thick and heavy, like trying to move through molasses. Astraeus felt his essence recoil, the fundamental laws of physics bending, breaking, rewriting themselves in the Ethereal's presence.
Move! Kha'Zul's voice was a desperate roar in his mind. Don't let it lock you in place! Fight the distortion!
Astraeus forced his essence to flow, pushing back against the crushing pressure of the warped reality. It was like trying to swim against a tidal wave, an exhausting, desperate struggle that consumed his energy at an alarming rate.
"Scatter!" Darius's voice was a distorted, garbled shout, but his command was clear. "Don't give it a single target!"
The team broke apart, each member diving in a different direction, their movements sluggish and uncoordinated. The Ethereal watched them with an expression of detached amusement, its too-perfect face a mask of serene indifference.
"Interesting. You have more will than most. But will alone is not enough to defy transcendence."
It gestured, a lazy, elegant flick of its wrist, and Thomas, who had been scrambling for the door, froze mid-stride. His eyes went vacant, his expression slack, a mirror of the catatonic civilians in the center of the room.
"Thomas!" Lyra screamed, her voice a raw cry of terror.
Don't look at it! Kha'Zul warned, his voice sharp with urgency. Its power works through perception! The more you perceive it, the more it perceives you! Close your eyes! Use your essence sense!
Astraeus squeezed his eyes shut, plunging himself into a world of darkness and pure energy. The Ethereal was a blazing star of silver-white light, a sun of raw, untamed power that threatened to overwhelm his senses. But it was a light he could look at without his mind being torn apart.
"Clever," the Ethereal's voice echoed in his mind, a sound like singing crystal. "But ultimately futile."
The reality distortion intensified. Astraeus felt a powerful pull, a psychic gravity that was dragging him toward the shimmering rift. He anchored himself with a surge of earth essence, a technique he had learned from watching Lyra, his feet sinking into the stone floor as if he had grown roots.
He felt a flicker of movement to his left and knew, with a sickening certainty, that another of his teammates had been caught. He didn't dare open his eyes to see who it was.
You can't fight it, Kha'Zul said, his voice tight with a tension that bordered on fear. Not directly. But you might be able to disrupt its connection to this realm. The rift. It's a gateway. If you can close it, you can sever its anchor.
"How?" Astraeus projected his thoughts, his voice a desperate plea. "That's not a Void rift! I don't know how to seal something like that!"
The principles are the same! It's a breach in reality! You seal breaches! Do it now, or you will all die! Your minds will be shattered, your souls consumed!
Astraeus gathered his essence, his focus narrowing to the shimmering, silver-white tear in reality. He could feel its frequency, a complex, harmonious melody that was a stark contrast to the dissonant screech of a Void rift. He began to weave his own essence into a counter-frequency, a Resonance Seal designed to cancel it out. It was the most complex piece of magic he had ever attempted, a delicate, intricate dance of energy and will.
The Ethereal noticed. "Oh? You're attempting to seal my gateway? How… ambitious. And how utterly pointless."
He felt a surge of power, a wave of pure, unadulterated will that slammed into his half-formed seal, threatening to shatter it. He poured more of his own essence into the construct, his reserves draining at an alarming rate.
And then he felt a new presence, a new wave of power, this one coming from beside him. Darius. He had moved to intercept the Ethereal, his sword a blur of motion as he swung at the creature's outstretched arm.
The blade passed through the Ethereal's form as if it were smoke, but the distraction worked. The pressure on Astraeus's seal lessened for a fraction of a second.
"Brave," the Ethereal's voice was laced with a cold, cruel amusement. "Foolish, but brave."
Astraeus felt Darius's essence flicker, his life force dimming as the Ethereal's power began to overwhelm him.
Now or never, boy, Kha'Zul's voice was a low growl. I'm going to help you. But this will reveal me. There is no other choice.
A torrent of crimson-black energy erupted from Astraeus's shadow, a tidal wave of demonic power that was a stark, terrifying contrast to the Ethereal's serene light. Kha'Zul's shadow form rose up, a towering figure of pure, unadulterated rage, his eyes burning with the cold fire of a dying star.
The Ethereal's amusement finally faltered, replaced by a flicker of genuine surprise. "You. A demon? Bound to a mortal? How… unusual."
Unusual? Kha'Zul's voice was a chorus of damned souls, a sound that promised an eternity of pain. I am a Demon King, you pretentious spark of light. And you are trespassing in my host's realm. Leave now, or I will unmake you.
The Ethereal laughed, a sound that was both beautiful and utterly devoid of humor. "A Demon King in shadow form, bound and weakened. You are no threat to me."
Maybe not, Kha'Zul snarled. But I am a damn good distraction.
Kha'Zul's essence surged into Astraeus, a raw, untamed power that was a stark contrast to the controlled, precise flow of his own. But it was power, and right now, that was all that mattered. The half-formed seal blazed with a new, terrifying intensity, the silver-blue of Astraeus's essence and the crimson-black of Kha'Zul's swirling together into a maelstrom of chaotic energy.
The rift shuddered, its harmonious melody turning into a dissonant shriek. The Ethereal's serene expression finally broke, replaced by a look of genuine alarm.
"What are you—no! You can't—!"
With a final, desperate push, Astraeus slammed the seal into place. The rift collapsed with a sound like a thunderclap, the silver-white light imploding, leaving behind a void that was quickly filled by the returning, mundane reality of the waystation hall.
The Ethereal screamed, a sound that transcended sound, a psychic shockwave that cracked the very foundations of Astraeus's mind. Its form flickered, became translucent, and then, with a final, desperate shriek, it was gone, pulled back into its own dimension.
The reality distortion vanished. The oppressive silence was broken by the sound of twenty-three bodies collapsing to the floor.
Astraeus fell to his knees, his essence completely depleted, his body shaking with a violent, uncontrollable tremor. Kha'Zul's shadow form receded, the crimson-black energy fading back into the familiar, comforting darkness of his own shadow.
You did it, Kha'Zul's voice was a tired, ragged whisper in his mind. Against all odds, you actually did it.
Lyra rushed to Thomas's side, her face a mask of terror. "He's breathing! He's alive! But he's not responding!"
Darius was already at Kira's side, his hand on her shoulder. "Kira? Can you hear me?"
Her eyes fluttered open, but they were unfocused, her expression dazed and confused. "I… what… where…"
Ethereal essence exposure, Kha'Zul explained, his voice heavy with a weariness that was thousands of years old. Their minds were touched by something beyond mortal comprehension. They will recover, but it will take time. And they will never be quite the same.
Astraeus forced himself to his feet, his legs trembling. He looked at the unconscious civilians, at his dazed and broken teammates. They had won. They had survived. But the cost… the cost was staggering.
This wasn't a victory. It was a reprieve. And as he looked at the faces of the people he had failed to protect, he knew, with a certainty that chilled him to the bone, that the war had just begun.
He took a deep breath, the mundane air of the waystation hall feeling strange and foreign after the reality-bending chaos of the Ethereal's pocket dimension. He was alive. They were alive. And that, for now, would have to be enough.