Selene groaned softly in Kael's arms.
The sound hit him like a knife.
He had no idea where she'd been hurt when they crashed onto the stone floor. He cursed himself and tightened his grip around her limp body.
"Damn it…"
He threw himself out of the corridor.
The moment his boots hit open ground, he rolled hard into a thick mass of decorative shrubs and twisted flowering vines beside the passage. Branches clawed at his face. Thorns ripped his sleeves. He didn't care.
He dragged Selene against his chest and held her there.
A heartbeat later, Lord Ossian came screaming through the corridor.
The undead tyrant moved like a streak of blood-red fire dragged through darkness. Crimson corpse-flames trailed from his bones, painting the stone walls in hellish light.
Kael shut his eyes.
Keep moving.
Keep moving.
Just keep going past us...
Ossian suddenly stopped.
Kael's entire body went cold.
The lich stood motionless in the corridor entrance.
Listening.
Kael barely dared breathe. Through the gaps in the leaves, he watched the monster stand utterly still.
The silence became unbearable.
Not even wind moved.
Kael could hear his own heartbeat hammering so loudly he was certain Ossian would hear it too.
Then something changed.
At first it was faint.
A strange pulse.
A crawling sensation beneath his skin.
Then it surged through him like lightning.
Kael stiffened.
His throat went dry.
His pulse exploded.
He looked down.
Selene remained unconscious in his arms.
That somehow made it worse.
Her body had gone completely soft against him.
Warm.
Silken.
Dangerously soft.
Her breathing brushed faintly against his throat, carrying that sweet scent that was uniquely hers.
His senses suddenly sharpened to an unnatural degree.
The Sevenfold Shroud.
That cursed mask was still on his face.
Every sensation magnified.
The softness of her breasts crushed against his chest.
The smoothness of her thighs pressed against his leg.
The heat between her legs radiated through torn clothing.
Kael's breathing became ragged.
"No... no, no, no…"
His body betrayed him.
At the absolute worst possible moment, arousal surged through him with brutal force.
His manhood hardened painfully beneath his robes.
Kael nearly bit through his own tongue.
"What kind of degenerate piece of trash gets hard while hiding from an undead monster?"
He silently cursed himself with genuine fury.
Then realization struck him.
The mask.
It was the mask.
He reached for the Sevenfold Shroud and tried to rip it off.
It refused.
An invisible force pressed against his mind.
Dark.
Ancient.
Hungry.
It clawed into his will and demanded obedience.
Kael's pupils shrank.
"What the hell are you—"
The mask tightened.
He felt something inside it trying to invade him.
Trying to claim him.
Trying to make him submit.
Kael snarled through clenched teeth.
"Get off me!"
Veins bulged in his neck as he fought the artifact.
His fingers dug beneath the edges of the mask.
Then he ripped.
Pain exploded across his face.
It felt like tearing flesh from bone.
But the mask finally came free.
Kael nearly collapsed.
Cold sweat drenched his back.
He stared at the Sevenfold Shroud with naked disgust.
"This thing is pure evil…"
He shoved it into the Wardian Satchel as carefully and quietly as he could.
Never again.
Never.
"Mmm…"
Selene stirred.
Kael froze.
Her eyes slowly fluttered open.
They were dazed at first.
Then focused on him.
Then widened in horror.
She opened her mouth to scream—
Kael panicked.
He kissed her.
Hard.
Selene's eyes nearly burst out of her skull.
She thrashed violently in his arms.
Kael pinned her down desperately.
"Please stop moving—"
She bit him.
Hard.
"MMPH!"
Pain exploded through his lip.
He tasted blood instantly.
"Oh, come on!"
Too late.
Ossian's laughter echoed from the corridor.
"Found you."
Kael's soul nearly left his body.
He snatched Selene up and ran.
Selene's face turned deathly pale as she realized what had happened.
Kael sprinted with everything he had.
But without the Sevenfold Shroud, he was slower.
Far slower.
His expression twisted.
Not good.
He began forming the chant for Ember Dash.
Before he could finish—
Selene screamed.
Kael looked up.
And saw death.
A colossal skeletal claw burst from empty air ahead of them.
It looked drenched in fresh blood.
The Underworld Claw.
There was no time to dodge.
No time to think.
Kael twisted his body.
And shielded Selene with his own.
The claw struck.
Like divine judgment.
Both of them were blasted through the air.
Kael felt bones crack.
Felt organs twist.
Then darkness swallowed him.
---
Selene crashed across stone.
Pain ripped through her body.
She coughed blood and forced herself upright.
"Kael!"
He lay motionless nearby.
He wasn't moving.
Wasn't breathing.
For one horrifying second, she remembered her Frost Griffin being crushed like glass in Ossian's hand.
And terror consumed her.
"No… no no no…"
Her eyes turned red with tears.
She crawled toward him.
"Kael!"
Lord Ossian approached leisurely.
"Where is the Sevenfold Shroud?"
Selene slowly lifted her head.
Her expression changed.
No fear remained.
Only hatred.
Her hand slipped into her robes.
Ossian laughed.
"Another treasure?"
He stepped closer.
"Go ahead, little girl. Show me."
Selene's voice was ice.
"Do you dare let me finish my incantation?"
Ossian stopped three steps away.
He folded his hands behind his back.
"What wouldn't I dare?"
Arrogance dripped from every word.
"I'll let you understand what true power looks like."
Selene's lips trembled as she began chanting.
The incantation was long.
Painfully long.
Her body shook with every word.
Ossian waited.
Utterly unconcerned.
Then red light began leaking through Selene's robes.
Growing brighter.
Brighter.
Until her entire body seemed wrapped in crimson dawnlight.
Ossian's expression changed.
He felt it.
That power.
That purity.
That sacred force.
His empty sockets narrowed.
"Interesting."
Selene's voice became a scream.
"Die!"
Her hand shot outward.
A red beam erupted like divine lightning.
The Banishing Thunder Pearl.
The projectile was too fast.
Too close.
Ossian reacted on instinct and met it with his skeletal hand.
The impact shook him violently.
He staggered backward.
Then his expression twisted.
A violent anti-undead force surged through his arm.
The red projectile bounced upward—
revealing a spinning crimson pearl.
"The Banishing Thunder Pearl!"
For the first time—
Lord Ossian sounded alarmed.
Light raced through his arm.
To his elbow.
Then—
BOOM.
His forearm exploded into fragments.
Bone shards rained across the courtyard.
Selene gasped for breath.
Sweat covered her forehead.
Her face burned red.
Controlling the pearl was clearly draining her beyond her limits.
Ossian stared at her.
Then realization struck him.
"Lady Rendeth Voss…"
His voice turned cold.
"What is she to you?"
Selene said nothing.
She forced her shaking fingers into motion.
The crimson pearl screamed through the air again.
Ossian dodged.
The pearl curved.
Pursued.
Again.
And again.
"Then you're Lord Voss' daughter."
Ossian's ruined arm began regenerating.
Fresh bone rapidly extended from the stump.
Selene's face turned whiter with every passing second.
Ossian noticed.
And smiled.
He understood immediately.
She lacked the power to fully control the artifact.
And its backlash was beginning to tear her apart.
Just a little longer, he thought.
And she'll destroy herself.
Then—
A woman giggled behind him.
Ossian's eyes widened.
Too late.
A streak of violet burst through his chest.
His Vitae and Aether erupted from the wound like a ruptured dam.
He stumbled forward.
Then turned.
And saw Lyra Farrow.
She stood there smiling.
One sleeve gone.
Her exposed arm gleamed pale as ivory beneath blood and dust.
She looked impossibly beautiful.
And utterly dangerous.
"You again."
Ossian's voice trembled with rage.
Lyra smiled sweetly.
"What can I say?"
Her voice dripped playful innocence.
"You're annoyingly hard to kill."
She flicked her wrist.
The Violet Aurochs Pin curved through the air in dazzling arcs of purple light.
Selene gritted her teeth and sent the Banishing Thunder Pearl from the opposite side.
A perfect pincer strike.
Ossian looked at both attacks.
Then sighed.
"As troublesome as ever."
At the instant both treasures reached him—
his body dissolved into ash.
Then smoke.
Gone.
The two artifacts crossed through empty air.
Missed.
Lyra's smile vanished.
"Ash and Smoke."
Her foot slammed against the ground in frustration.
"That old bastard escaped."
Selene ignored her.
She ran to Kael.
Collapsed beside him.
And grabbed his body.
"Shreve!"
Her voice broke.
"Please!"
Tears streamed down her face.
"Kael saved me—this is my fault—it's all my fault!"
---
Darkness.
Then visions.
Kael drifted through impossible dreams.
He saw a colossal jade dragon writhing in endless violet flames.
Its screams shook the void.
Its body twisted in agony.
Its golden eyes locked onto his.
Kael recoiled.
"What are you—"
The vision shattered.
Screams replaced it.
Metal clashed.
Monsters roared.
Kael's consciousness returned in fragments.
He felt warmth against his back.
Softness.
A woman holding him.
He struggled to open his eyes.
It felt like lifting mountains.
When he finally succeeded—
he saw Zaeli.
She was supporting him from behind, her arms wrapped around him.
Her face brightened with relief.
"You're awake!"
Kael blinked.
Then looked upward.
An enormous temple ceiling stretched overhead, covered in countless glowing runes.
Memory returned all at once.
He jerked violently.
"Ossian!"
He tried to stand.
Pain ripped through him.
He nearly blacked out.
"Selene—where's Selene?!"
Zaeli held him down.
"Stop moving!"
Her voice shook.
"He's gone! Shreve Lyra drove him off!"
She pointed.
"Selene's alive!"
Kael turned.
And saw chaos.
Selene and Auryn stood at a side gate, desperately holding back waves of twin-headed skeletal swordsmen.
Steel screamed.
Bone shattered.
More kept coming.
At the main entrance—
Lyra, Sylva, Mira, and Rovan fought an even larger tide of undead horrors.
The entire grand hall had become a slaughterhouse.
Shouts.
Roars.
Explosions.
Steel.
Blood.
Bone.
Kael turned toward the center of the hall.
And finally exhaled.
Isara remained seated atop a raised stone platform.
Eyes closed.
Still meditating.
Still completing whatever ritual she had begun.
Kael looked at Zaeli.
"Did the outer defenses fall?"
She nodded miserably.
"There were too many."
Her voice trembled.
"Almost every trap and formation has been spent."
She pointed toward the distance.
"Fourth Soror and Frater Rovan collapsed the bridge earlier. Hundreds of undead fell into the lake."
Her expression darkened.
"It didn't matter."
Kael clenched his fists helplessly.
Then a shriek erupted overhead.
Everyone looked up.
Kael's face turned white.
A squadron of winged skeletons crashed through the second-floor balconies.
They flooded into the hall.
Leading them—
a skeletal marshal wielding a silver skull-flail.
Kael recognized him instantly.
The same undead general from the Bone Warren.
The Skybreaker Marshal.
Now Lyra's group was trapped.
Enemies from above.
Enemies from below.
Their situation became far worse.
Auryn's breathing turned ragged.
Selene's arms trembled.
Rovan roared as his staff crushed skulls.
Sylva desperately cycled healing arts between allies.
Mira looked half-dead from exhaustion.
Still—
they held.
Barely.
Kael tried to rise again.
His body failed him.
"Damn it…"
Then laughter thundered through the hall.
A new undead general forced his way through the front gate.
This one wore green bone armor.
Its body was grotesquely long.
It carried a massive twin-pronged spear.
Kael's eyes widened.
The Longbone Marshal.
Rovan saw the incoming flood behind it.
His expression hardened.
He charged.
"You're not getting through!"
The undead general moved.
Its waist twisted.
Its already long body suddenly stretched to an impossible length.
Like a serpent.
It bypassed Rovan entirely.
Rovan stared in disbelief.
"What—"
Too late.
Mira screamed.
"Watch out!"
Her Aether was exhausted.
She couldn't summon earth constructs anymore.
She grabbed her hammer and ran anyway.
The Longbone Marshal's spear lashed forward like a serpent's tongue.
Straight for Rovan's face.
Death was less than an inch away—
Then a blue blur slammed into the battlefield.
A hurricane of force erupted.
The Longbone Marshal was forced to redirect its strike.
Its spear punched into the newcomer's torso—
but at the same instant—
CRACK.
Its own shoulder exploded inward from a devastating impact.
The undead giant staggered.
Then everyone stared.
A massive blue construct landed in the center of the hall.
Over ten feet tall.
Its body was carved from deep azure crystal.
A horrifying gash ran from chest to abdomen—
yet no blood flowed.
Only cold blue light.
Lyra's eyes narrowed.
Then curved into a smile.
"The Stone Colossus."
The Stone Colossus bared jagged crystal teeth and answered the Longbone Marshal's snarl with one of its own.
The two monsters faced each other across the ruined hall like rival gods of slaughter.
The Longbone Marshal towered higher—its fused frame made from warped human remains and the colossal spine of some ancient serpent—but the blue construct radiated a brutality all its own. Crystal muscles twisted beneath translucent armor. Cold blue fire pulsed through the massive wound carved across its torso.
Rovan staggered backward, drenched in cold sweat after brushing death.
He recognized the construct instantly.
"Shreve Lyra!" he shouted hoarsely. "You saved my life!"
Lyra didn't look at him.
Her eyes stayed fixed on the Longbone Marshal.
"That thing was fused with the remains of a giant constrictor," she said coldly. "Its body can reshape itself. Don't let your guard down."
The Longbone Marshal let out a booming laugh that shook loose dust from the ceiling.
"Correct."
It spread its arms proudly.
"In life, I was a battlefield marshal who drowned nations in blood. After I fell in war, Lord Ossian blessed me with the bones of a thousand-year serpent king."
Its elongated spine twisted with wet cracking noises.
"I was reborn stronger than ever before. A hundred times stronger."
Its spear lowered.
"You should kneel while you still have heads attached to your necks."
Before anyone could answer, the flood arrived.
Skeletons poured into the chamber from every corridor.
Thousands.
A screaming white tide of rusted armor, broken shields, hooked blades, and gnashing jaws.
The Longbone Marshal's killing aura exploded outward as it prepared to charge—
Then it froze.
Its hollow eye sockets narrowed.
The giant wound across the Stone Colossus' chest was healing.
Rapidly.
Blue crystal regrew in layers.
Fractures sealed.
The construct was rebuilding itself before their eyes.
The Marshal took one involuntary step backward.
A self-repairing construct...?
Its grip tightened.
That thing is far too dangerous.
It immediately changed tactics.
Its spear slashed downward.
"Kill them."
The undead horde surged forward.
The disciples had nowhere left to retreat.
Their defensive line collapsed inward around Isara on the raised stone platform.
Everyone was running on fumes.
Auryn's golden barriers were flickering.
Mira's arms trembled so badly she could barely hold her hammer.
Selene's breathing was ragged.
Rovan's armor was soaked in blood.
And Sylva—
the green light in her hands suddenly vanished.
Her healing arts stopped.
She dropped to her knees.
Her face had gone ghost-white.
"I... can't..."
She had exhausted nearly every drop of Aether keeping everyone alive.
The effect was immediate.
Wounds reopened.
Movement slowed.
Panic spread.
The defensive formation cracked apart.
Then something massive crashed through the undead ranks.
A gigantic black greatsword slammed downward.
Mira's hammer was blasted from her hands.
She cried out as her palms split open.
A monstrous two-headed skeletal tiger lunged from the horde.
Its twin skulls roared inches from her face.
Behind it came several heavily armored double-headed skeleton knights.
They smashed into the exhausted defenders.
Everything fell apart.
Kael tried to rise.
Pain detonated through his body.
His vision turned black.
Then he collapsed again.
Darkness swallowed him whole.
—
When Kael opened his eyes again—
he thought he was dead.
Cold wind rushed past his face.
Stars stretched endlessly above him.
He was floating high above the world.
He groaned weakly.
"So this is death…"
A familiar voice snapped beside him.
"Don't say stupid things. You're not dying."
Kael froze.
That voice.
He turned his head.
And saw Selene.
Her beautiful face was inches away.
She was holding him tightly to keep him from falling from Dreamgate.
Kael's heart nearly stopped.
Then exploded with joy.
"You…"
He blinked stupidly.
"You're holding me?"
His battered brain struggled to process it.
"We're... like this now?"
Selene's face turned crimson.
She refused to meet his eyes.
Her lips trembled.
Worry.
Relief.
Embarrassment.
Anger.
And tears.
All of it swirled in her eyes at once.
Kael grinned like an idiot despite the blood on his lips.
"You're speaking nicely to me now... this is incredible..."
"How are you feeling?"
Another voice asked.
Kael turned his head.
And immediately wished he hadn't.
Isara stood nearby.
Lyra was there too.
Auryn.
Mira.
Rovan.
And Sylva.
All staring at him.
Kael's face turned bright red.
Sylva knelt beside him and spoke softly.
"I used the Withering Halt."
Her hands glowed faintly.
"It sealed your injuries temporarily. Once we're safe, I'll treat you properly."
Kael blinked.
Then looked ahead.
They were all standing atop Dreamgate as Isara guided the divine blade through the night sky.
"Master!"
Relief crashed through him.
"You're awake!"
Isara gave a small nod.
"Can you endure this?"
Kael felt like his ribs were full of broken glass.
His chest burned.
His limbs felt detached from his body.
But Selene was holding him.
That made him invincible.
"I'm fine," he lied instantly.
"Just scratches."
Selene glared at him through tears.
"Scratches?"
Her voice shook.
"You're coughing blood!"
Kael stared at her.
Gods.
Even her anger sounded beautiful.
He almost forgot he was dying.
Lyra folded her arms.
"The undead forces were larger than expected."
Her expression darkened.
"We had no choice but to withdraw."
Kael forced a weak grin.
"Then we go back later."
Blood coated his teeth.
"And wipe them all out."
He suddenly coughed violently.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Selene screamed.
"Sylva!"
Her entire body shook.
Sylva immediately forced more healing energy into Kael's body despite her own near-empty reserves.
Kael barely noticed.
He was staring at Selene.
She was crying.
Actually crying.
For him.
"Don't cry…"
he whispered.
"I'm fine…"
Her tears fell harder.
"I didn't know…"
Her voice broke.
"I thought you were going to die again…"
Kael stared at her.
Again?
Then realization hit.
He remembered biting.
He remembered panic.
He remembered her reaction.
Her trembling voice dropped to a whisper.
"If I hadn't reacted like that…"
She bit her lip.
"If I hadn't hurt you…"
"This is my fault."
Kael forgot everyone else was standing nearby.
He smiled weakly.
"So…"
He wheezed painfully.
"If I bite you again later…"
Selene froze.
Kael grinned.
"...will you bite me back?"
Selene's entire body locked up.
Even her ears turned red.
She gave the tiniest shake of her head.
Then whispered:
"Get better first."
Kael nearly ascended.
"Really?"
He stared at her flower-soft face like a starving man staring at heaven.
"You can't take that back later."
"We should pinky swear."
Lyra looked disgusted.
"You're half dead and still flirting."
Kael wheezed proudly.
"A true legend never rests."
"Shut up and breathe," Lyra snapped.
Selene immediately nodded.
"Yes. Stop talking."
Kael stared at her dreamily.
She told me what to do.
She actually cares.
This is the happiest day of my life.
Then he noticed Mira.
She stood on the opposite side, eyes filled with tears.
Her usual gentle restraint shattered.
She reached forward and tightly grabbed his hand.
"Please hold on."
Her voice cracked.
"Kael... please."
He wanted to answer.
He truly did.
But darkness dragged him downward again.
His consciousness slipped.
—
"We're almost at Mirwatch!"
Rovan knelt near the front of Dreamgate, staring downward.
"There are imperial soldiers stationed—"
He stopped.
His voice died.
Everyone looked down.
And horror swallowed them whole.
Mirwatch was gone.
The city had become hell.
Walls had collapsed.
Towers had fallen.
Entire districts burned beneath sickly green flames.
The fire reflected across massive lakes of blood.
Bodies were everywhere.
Stacked.
Scattered.
Burning.
Children.
Soldiers.
Civilians.
No distinction remained.
Through the burning streets marched towering skeletal colossi.
Seven.
No—
eight of them.
Each as large as fortress towers.
They smashed through buildings like toys.
Skeleton armies flooded the streets below them.
Mira stared in disbelief.
"There's... more than one?"
Rovan's entire body shook with rage.
"They attacked a city…"
His voice cracked.
"They attacked civilians…"
Sylva's face turned pale.
"There must be thousands."
Her breathing quickened.
"How could any city survive this?"
Auryn's golden eyes narrowed.
"The dead buried beneath this land…"
Her jaw tightened.
"They must have been soldiers once."
She looked at the endless army below.
"How many has Ossian raised?"
Isara's voice cut through the horror.
"They were warriors in life."
Her expression hardened.
"They are monsters now."
She looked at the burning city.
"This cannot be allowed to continue."
Lyra's beautiful face twisted with murderous intent.
"Once we escape immediate danger…"
"I'll summon the Covenant."
"We burn this nest to ash."
Below them—
the green fires only spread further.
And yet there were no screams.
No pleas for help.
Only fire.
Only death.
Only silence.
Rovan covered his face with both hands.
His shoulders shook.
"Mirwatch is gone…"
His voice sounded like a funeral prayer.
"It's gone…"
Kael tried to turn his head to see.
He couldn't.
His body no longer obeyed him.
Darkness crawled over his vision again.
He faded in and out of consciousness.
Then Isara spoke quietly.
"We continue to Mirekeep."
Her eyes stayed forward.
"We survive first."
Dreamgate turned east.
And vanished into the night.
---
The central palace of Lakeheart Isle was packed wall-to-wall with undead horrors.
The aftermath of battle was everywhere.
Broken bones.
Shattered weapons.
Severed limbs.
Dying shrieks.
Animalistic roars.
Agonized groans.
Chaos.
Then a skeletal warlord screamed—
"Lord Ossian has arrived!"
"And the Emissary!"
Instant silence.
Every undead creature dropped to its knees.
The grand hall became deathly still.
Lord Ossian strode into the chamber.
His restored arm flexed at his side.
Beside him walked a woman wrapped in black veilcloth.
Her body was breathtaking.
Dangerously so.
Sensual curves hidden beneath dark silk.
The same mysterious woman Kael had encountered within the Bone Warren.
Ossian's voice thundered.
"They escaped?"
The Longbone Marshal.
The winged skeletal commander.
The two-headed tiger beast.
All knelt in silence.
None dared speak.
The veiled woman's eyes blazed.
"Where is the Sevenfold Shroud?"
Every undead creature lowered their heads further.
Silence dragged on.
Finally—
the Longbone Marshal spoke.
Its right shoulder armor had been blasted open.
"We failed."
Its voice trembled.
"We had them cornered."
"Then one of the women unleashed a powerful sword technique."
"It devastated our forces."
"They escaped during the chaos."
The winged commander spoke next.
"That sword…"
Its broken wings dragged helplessly across the floor.
"It destroyed our weapons on contact."
"We could not stop them."
Lord Ossian exploded.
"Worthless trash!"
He roared so loudly cracks spread through nearby pillars.
"You incompetent fools!"
His regenerated arm looked whole—
but a small black wound still remained in the center of his chest.
A reminder of Selene's Banishing Thunder Pearl.
The veiled woman suddenly turned on him.
Her voice sharpened like a knife.
"What now?"
Her eyes blazed with fury.
"You understand how important the Sevenfold Shroud is."
Ossian snarled back instantly.
"Do not lecture me about that cursed relic."
His skeletal jaw clicked violently.
"That thing may have brought these enemies to my doorstep in the first place."
His aura surged.
"It cost me two Source Power Pools."
"And my Bone Dragon was crippled."
The woman's voice turned glacial.
"Careful."
She stepped closer.
"The Young Lord wants that artifact."
Ossian spat black smoke.
"I do not answer to that brat."
"You think his name frightens me?"
The woman laughed coldly.
"You may not fear him."
Her eyes narrowed.
"But when the Holy Sovereign emerges from seclusion…"
her smile vanished.
"Will you explain your failure then?"
For the first time—
Ossian hesitated.
Only for a moment.
Then his rage returned.
"The Holy Sovereign is wise enough to see the truth."
He slammed his staff into the floor.
"That reckless fool has overstepped for years."
"I owe him nothing."
The veiled woman folded her arms.
"You built thirteen Bone Towers."
Her tone dripped with accusation.
"Why were only two used here?"
"If all thirteen had attacked…"
"Those children would never have escaped."
Ossian's grin slowly returned.
A monstrous grin.
"Because the others had more important work."
The woman frowned.
"What work?"
Ossian's empty eye sockets gleamed.
"I sent them to attack Mirwatch."
He began laughing.
A horrible, echoing laugh.
"By now…"
"the city should be drowning in blood."