The passage collapsed beneath the force of our collision. The Guardian surged forward like a storm given form, her obsidian blade slicing through the air, leaving fractures of pure darkness in its wake.
She struck—fast, merciless.
I barely raised the ring in time. The first blow shattered against it, scattering gold and azure sparks across the corridor. The second slipped through—pain exploded across my shoulder, sharp and blinding. Before I could recover, her third strike—a brutal kick—drove the air from my lungs and hurled me backward.
My spine slammed against the stone wall.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
I coughed, the taste of iron thick on my tongue as blood spilled past my lips. My vision blurred, but I forced my head up—forced myself to see.
Marley and Zak…
They were not cowering.
They stood their ground.
Zak's hands were steady despite the blood streaking down his arm, a sharp, controlled light pulsing between his fingers as he pressed it firmly against Maximilien's chest. Ancient symbols flickered beneath his palm, locking onto the fading rhythm of his heart.
"Stay with me!" Zak growled, his voice cutting through the chaos.
Marley moved beside him—not hesitant. Not afraid. Focused.
Her energy burned warmer—deeper.
She raised her hands above Maximilien's wounds, and the light didn't flicker—it surged. Golden threads wove through his body, sealing torn flesh, forcing life back into failing veins. Sweat ran down her face, but her expression never broke.
"He's not dying," she said, low and certain. "Not while I'm still breathing."
The air shifted.
This wasn't desperation anymore.
It was defiance.
Maximilien's body jerked as a breath forced its way back into his lungs. Weak—but real.
Zak exhaled sharply.
"That's it… fight it."
For a moment—
They weren't saving him.
They were dragging him back from death.
The Guardian stepped closer. Slow. Certain.
Her crimson eyes burned with cruel satisfaction.
"Do not worry," she whispered. "You will join them soon."
Her words should have terrified me.
But something else rose instead.
A memory—warmth, laughter… a promise.
Then it shattered.
Something ancient answered.
Rage.
"I will not fall here."
The power of Anubis answered.
Dark golden light erupted from my body. The chamber fractured—the ceiling shattered as we were hurled into the open sky above the ruined temple.
Wind roared.
The Guardian drifted like a shadow.
And I—
I burned.
We clashed again. Faster. Beyond thought.
Her blade met my light. Each impact tore through the night, the sky trembling beneath us.
No hesitation. No restraint.
Until—
She broke.
Cracks of light spread across her form before she collapsed into black ash, scattered by the wind.
Silence.
Then gravity returned.
I fell.
The impact crushed the ground beneath me. Pain surged—distant, fading.
I stood.
But something was gone.
No breath. No fear. No self.
I turned.
The traitor.
In an instant—I moved.
One strike.
Final.
His head fell.
Blood covered my face as I returned. The severed head hung in my hand.
No one moved.
I dropped it at the chieftain's feet.
"Anuka yashki buna yashi."
Silence.
Then the clan bowed.
The chieftain stepped forward, trembling, offering the glowing Life Stone.
"Anuka yamuti nayaka…"
I took it.
"Violet!"
Zak's voice—closer now. Strong.
I turned slightly.
Marley was still supporting Maximilien—who was breathing now. Weak… but alive. His chest rose and fell under her steady hands, the golden light still pulsing through him.
"We got him," Zak said, firm—almost defiant, as he looked straight at me. "He's not going anywhere."
Fear was still there in their eyes—
But not helplessness.
Never that.
The stone pulsed in my hand.
My vision narrowed.
Darkness crept in.
Soft. Deep.
I felt myself falling—
Far beyond them.
"Move! The temple is collapsing!"
Their voices faded.
Then—
Nothing.
No pain.
No sound.
No self.
Only silence…
And the steady pulse of the stone.
As if something within it… was still alive.