“Bring it down!”
Wings thundered, Gliders clawing for the air in frenzy. All eyes on her. All glaives pointed toward Astenos. Some dove to strike. Others tried to flee, their terror scattering them like startled crows.
His fury detonated. Gathering Thurisaz once more, he tempered it with Skaldyr and surged upward, blasting the air with shockwaves that crushed Gliders mid-flight. He earned the name of Skycleaver once again, flying through the air like a blade of execution. Wings snapped, bodies plummeted. He grounded each one he could reach, snapping bones like twigs, grabbing the Gliders by the ankles and throwing them to the ground—ripping them from the air like broken dolls.
And above him…
The silver light still gathered in Auryn’s arms, swelling until it burned across the dark like a second sun. She loosed it with a cry, and the blast swept the courtyard. Varkhounds and Gliders—all vaporized in an arc of brilliance. The Reskala flinched, shields raised—yet the silver fire left them untouched.
Silence followed. Not victory. Not peace. Just silence, heavy with terror, awe, revelation. The Gliders had their Skycleaver. Now they had their Starborn. And for the first time, Kailorien knew the truth.
It would not be his legend alone the world feared.
His chest seized. The Bond flared so violently it nearly dropped him to his knees. Pride, terror, awe—love like shards of glass in his ribs.
Auryn!
Kailorien, we must close the rift!
She turned Astenos toward the tear. The beast’s wings folded inwards and it dove down. White Weave burned in Auryn’s hands, her body trembling with the effort. He knew what she meant to do. Recognized that look.
She wants to close it, and she’ll kill herself trying.
The rift shrieked, vomiting hounds endlessly from its depths. The courtyard was overrun. Reskala chants had thinned to screams. Gliders poured through the shattered wards, cutting down men by the dozens.Thessia’s glaive rose and fell, Zarrek’s axe blazed with runes, but their line was breaking.
Even if Auryn closed it—even if she tore herself apart to seal the rift—Stonewake was lost.
Let her die…one less chain to bind us.The Vargrún's voice.
Kailorien’s fury ignited. His runes howled, Raido detonating like thunder under his skin, melding with Thurisaz and Skaldyr to add power to his jump. Pain bloomed across his spine, stabbing into his marrow and boiling it—a forge melting steel. The muscles in his thighs grew taut, his body coiling like a spring. Kneeling down, he put his full weight into his feet and pushed off with all his might. Beneath him, the ground bowed inward, the force crushing stone in a circle around him.
He leapt, hurtling through the air at blinding speed. Reaching out with his arms, he collided with Astenos mid-air, seizing the war-steed’s mane and hauling himself onto his back with terrifying force. Auryn screamed. Astenos shrieked.
Her head whipped around, her face pale, blood running from her nose, eyes wild with silver light. No fear there, not even at the sight of his face so close. His violent crimson eyes. The bloodlust within. The madness.
She grabbed his forearms as she shook her head. “Kail, no! Let me—let me close it—”
He crushed her against him with one arm, his voice ragged with desperation. “No. Not this time. I won’t allow it.”
She fought him, fists pounding weakly at his chest. “You don’t understand—we’ll all die—”
“We already have!” he roared. The words broke like a storm. “Look at them! Stonewake is gone!”
Below, the truth was written in blood and plumes of rising smoke—in the stench of burned flesh and mana. Reskala cut down mid-chant.Riftwardens ripped open before their glyphs could spark. Mages writhing on the battlements, their bodies contorting from the agony of glyphic backlash. The hounds overrunning every corner of the keep, now engaging the Gliders, rending them to pieces.
The fortress was collapsing, stone by stone.
She strained toward the rift. “Then what’s left?”
“You. Us.”
Astenos slammed into the ground, the impact shattering stone beneath his hooves. Zarrek and Thessia charged toward them, bloodied and battered, rallying what remained of their men. Smoke rolled across the courtyard, thick enough to choke on. The rift’s mournful shrieks rattled the fortress's foundations. Varkhounds poured through the breach faster than steel could cut them down.
Zarrek took one look at the tide and spat blood into the dirt.
“Fall back!” he roared. “To the inner hall—MOVE!”
Thessia didn’t hesitate. She signaled to Talia then seized two staggering Reskala by their armor and dragged them after her, shoving them toward the broken archway leading into the keep’s deeper levels.
