The throne room was silent.
The explosions reached it muffled through the tall windows. The orange glow of the fires painted the marble columns. And in the center of the room, Darian and Aelthas faced each other.
Darian tightened his grip on both hilts. Lumine in his right hand. Nox in his left. The two swords hummed. Not with fear. With the tremor of two beasts scenting the air before the hunt.
Aelthas turned the black blade. The red and golden filaments climbed his arm, embedded in his skin like living roots. His tunic remained spotless. Not a wrinkle. Not a trace of dust. The king raised his eyes.
"Two swords," he said. His voice was soft, almost pleasant. "Light and shadow. What a peculiar combination. Though I suppose for a human it's quite the achievement."
"They serve me well," Darian replied.
"They serve you?" Aelthas tilted his head. "What a sad way to speak about two conscious creatures."
Darian felt Lumine's warmth in one palm. Nox's cold in the other. He didn't answer.
"No matter," Aelthas continued. "They'll tire of you soon enough. They always do."
He attacked.
The black sword cut the air in a diagonal slash. Darian blocked with Lumine. The impact shook his arm all the way to the shoulder. The blade's light flickered at the contact with the black edge. A different kind of cold crept through his fingers — a cold that had nothing to do with temperature.
"Darian." Lumine's voice was a whisper. "That blade has no soul. Only a void shaped like an edge."
"A void that wants to bite," Nox growled. "I can feel it. It's measuring us. Wants to know what we'll taste like."
"Nox."
"Just saying what I see."
Aelthas gave no quarter. Second strike. Horizontal. Darian deflected with Nox. The short sword's dark mist coiled around the black blade. For an instant, the two shadows touched. Aelthas pulled back. The blades separated with a snap.
"How curious," said Aelthas. "Your swords seek each other. As if they have something to say."
Darian combined fire and air. A burning gust swept through the room. The curtains caught fire. The tapestries flew apart in shreds. Aelthas raised the black sword. A pulse of darkness burst from the blade. The flames died before reaching him. The wind dissolved. The ashes floated for a moment and settled to the floor.
"Four elements," said Aelthas. He smoothed a sleeve. "You must be very proud. A shame quantity isn't quality."
"It's always been enough."
"That's what they all say before they fall short."
Darian didn't wait. Water and earth. The floor beneath Aelthas turned to mud. The king glanced down. Just an instant. Darian lunged. Lumine thrusting at his chest. Aelthas twisted his torso. The blade of light grazed his tunic. Nox came from the other side. A slash at the leg. Aelthas jumped back. The shadow edge caught the hem.
"You see," said Aelthas. "When you try, you almost manage something."
The darkness pulse detonated without warning.
Darian felt the blow in his chest. Not physical. A void that sucked the breath from him. The torches in the room went out. Only Lumine's light remained, trembling like a candle in a tunnel. Darian stumbled. Aelthas was already on top of him.
The black sword came down in an arc. Darian raised both blades in a cross. The impact drove him to the floor. Knees against stone. His hands shook. Aelthas pushed down. The filaments of the black sword extended. They grazed Lumine. They grazed Nox.
"It's touching us," said Nox. His voice was a muffled snarl. "I don't like being touched."
"Darian," said Lumine. "Don't meet it with rage. That's what it wants."
"What does it want?" Darian said through clenched teeth.
"For you to lose control. To let us go."
"I'm not letting go."
Darian activated the Void.
Gravity multiplied around Aelthas. The king sank. The pressure buckled his knees. The black sword was thrown off course. The torches came back to life. Darian rose. Lumine traced an upward slash. It opened Aelthas's tunic. Nox went for the side. The shadow point grazed his ribs.
First blood.
Aelthas brought his hand to his side. His fingers came away stained. He looked at them. An expression crossed his face. Not pain. Not rage. Something stranger. As if the blood felt foreign to him. As if it wasn't entirely his.
"You've made me bleed," he said. He wiped his fingers on his tunic, slowly. "It's been so long I'd almost forgotten. Thank you for the reminder."
He raised the black sword.
"Again."
The blade lengthened. It wasn't a trick of the light. The black blade stretched like a whip of living metal, thin as wire, fast as a whisper. The edge shot forward. Darian barely saw it coming. He turned his head. The tip grazed his cheek. A thread of blood ran to his jaw.
"Do you like it?" asked Aelthas. "It's one of its abilities. It adapts. Like your swords, but without complaints."
The blade retracted. Returned to its original form. Then it widened. The edge grew heavier, denser. Power instead of speed.
Aelthas attacked.
Three strikes in succession. Diagonal right. Horizontal left. Thrust to the chest. Darian blocked the first with Lumine. The light cracked. He ducked under the second. The heavy blade passed over him, grazing his hair. The third was aimed straight at his heart.
Darian activated Flow Perception.
The world slowed. Lines of force traced themselves through the air. He saw the thrust's trajectory. Saw the weak point. Saw the thread connecting that blow to his death.
He twisted his torso. The black blade passed a centimeter from his chest. The wind of the strike moved his clothes. Darian saw the opening. Aelthas's side was exposed. He raised Nox. The shadow blade rose in a slash.
Aelthas stumbled. His tunic tore at the ribs. Another bloodstain. Darker this time. Thicker.
"Twice," said Aelthas. His voice was still soft, but something had cracked beneath it. "Twice you've touched me. You're better than I expected."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment. It was a verdict."
The black sword pulsed. The filaments covered his entire arm now. They climbed his neck. His tunic tore at the shoulder. Beneath it, his veins stood out black.
"You've lasted longer than I expected," said Aelthas. "But this ends now."
He raised the sword. The black blade began to absorb the light in the room. Not just the shadows. The light too. Lumine flickered. The blade grew dimmer. Nox's mist bristled.
"It's putting us out," said Nox. "Not again."
"Darian," said Lumine. Her voice was a thread. "You need more than elements. You need precision. You need calm."
"I don't have time for calm."
"Then I'll give it to you."
Darian felt something in his chest. Not the Void. Not the fire. A hand opening. An invitation.
"Do you trust me?" asked Lumine.
Darian closed his eyes.
"Yes."
"Then don't let go."
The light erupted.
Not an explosion. An expansion. A white wave that poured from Lumine's blade and wrapped around Darian completely. It covered his skin, his arms, his chest, his legs. A thin layer of light adhering to his body like a second skin. His hair turned white. Not with age. With luminescence. His eyes inverted. Black with white pupils.
Darian opened his eyes. The voice that came from his mouth was double. His and Lumine's, layered. An amplified whisper. An absolute calm.
"Now we'll see," they said in unison. "Which of us is more precise."
Aelthas narrowed his eyes.
"Interesting. Very interesting."
The aura of light breathed around Darian. It didn't attack. It didn't blind. It simply was. A serene presence in the middle of the fire.
The room fell silent again.
But it was a different silence. The silence of two predators recognizing each other. And knowing that one of them would not be leaving.