Voranthar paced the stone floor of his private vault. He stared at the row of glowing soul-link crystals resting on the marble pedestal. He waited hours for a magical transmission from Julian, praying the Earthlings had successfully reclaimed Aethelgard.
Suddenly, four of the crystals shattered into fine dust.
Voranthar stumbled backward. The destroyed crystals belonged to Derek, Brittany, Zach, and Sarah. They were entirely gone.
He immediately looked at the two crystals representing Julian and Julia Vance. The twin stones did not shatter. Instead, their magical signatures completely vanished from the tracking grid. The Vance siblings had fled the battlefield and stolen the crimson artifact.
'They took the souls of Aethelgard and ran,' Voranthar thought, gripping his hair in absolute terror. He was entirely blind and defenseless.
While Voranthar panicked inside his vault, Novus and Hawl moved through the quiet streets of the capital.
