The skeletal mare's hooves thundered across the frozen plains, its labored breaths fogging the air like spectral whispers. Inside the battered carriage, Eldrin clutched Rivenn's warped helmet, its metal still warm from the chaos-fire that had reduced Ophira's soldiers to ash. His hands tremblednot from the cold, but from the memory of those screams.
The sigils beneath his skin pulsed faintly, a dormant beast sated for now.
"Keep your head down,"Rivenn growled, his gaze darting to the storm-dark horizon. Blood seeped through the makeshift bandage on his thigh, staining the carriage seat. Blackthorn riders dont quit after one skirmish."
Eldrin opened his mouth to speak, but a howl cut through the windasound too guttural for wolves. Rivenn cursed, snapping the reins harder. The mare whinnied in protest, its ribs heaving beneath patchy fur.
Theyre closing in,"Eldrin whispered, his throat raw. The sigils flared blue at his wrists, reacting to an unseen threat.
I know."Rivenn's jaw tightened. He yanked a rusted lever beneath the seat, and the carriage shuddered as hidden gears whirred. Steel plates slid over the windows, transforming the vehicle into a claustrophobic armor-clad box. Lady Ophira wants you alive. That gives us an edge."
"An edge?"Eldrin's laugh bordered on hysterical. They have silence-powder. They have *source-shard weapons*. What do *we* have?"
Rivenn unsheathed his notched sword, its edge glowing faintly with residual chaos-energy. A pissed-off soldier with nothing left to lose."
---
The first spear struck like lightning.
It pierced the steel plating as if it were parchment, its crystal tip humming with malignant energy. Eldrin barely dodged, the shard grazing his cheek and embedding itself in the opposite wall. Cold radiated from the weapon, frosting the air.
Nexus Child!"a voice boomed outside, distorted by a horned helm. Surrende r, and Lady Ophira may yet spare your *pet*."
Rivenn lunged for the carriage door, but Eldrin grabbed his arm. Dont. Theyll kill you."
Theyll try."Rivenn's smile was all teeth. He kicked the door open, rolling into the snow with practiced grace.
Chaos erupted.
Blackthorn riders circled the carriage like vultures, their bone-armored steeds snorting plumes of black smoke. The leadera hulking brute with a source-shard lanceleveled his weapon at Rivenn. Last chance, traitor."
Rivenn spat blood onto the snow. Come taste my steel, you overgrown thistle."
The riders charged.
Eldrin watched through a slit in the armor plating as Rivenn moveda whirlwind of blade and fury. His sword clashed against source-shard lances, each strike sending sparks cascading over the snow. But the Blackthorns were relentless. A lance grazed Rivenn's shoulder, and he staggered, his armor sizzling where the crystal had touched it.
*Eldrin!*"Rivenn roared, parrying a blow that would have cleaved his skull." The satchel*now*!"
Eldrin fumbled with the leather bag Rivenn had shoved at him earlier. Inside, beside the wolf-crest pendant, lay a scroll sealed with crimson wax. He broke the seal, and the parchment unfurled with unnatural speed, its edges sharpening into blades.
Rivenns voice carried over the din: Throw it!"
Eldrin hurled the scroll into the fray. It sliced through the air, embedding itself in the snow at the riders'feet. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then the ground *rippled*, thorned vines erupting in a violent spiral. They ensnared the Blackthorns'steeds, piercing bone armor and flesh alike. The riders' screams mingled with the crunch of snapping spines,
*Run!*"Rivenn barked, shoving Eldrin toward the tree line. The librarynorth!
*Go!*"
Eldrin froze. Not without you"
A glass orb shattered at his feet.
Silence-powder engulfed him, its shimmering particles searinghis lungs. The sigils on his skin writhed, their light dimming to a sickly gray. He collapsed, choking on blood and ash, as the world narrowed to fractured images: Rivenn lunging at the Blackthorn leader.a source-shard lance piercing armor with a wet *crunch*-his friend's helmet rolling through crimson snow…
Something *snapped* inside Eldrin.
The world turned red.
---
Fire eruptednot the warm orange of hearth flames, but liquid shadow that devoured light itself. It poured from Eldrin's palms, consuming the silence-powder, the snow, the very *air*. Blackthorn soldiers screamed as their armor melted, their flesh sloughing off bones that crumbled to ash. The source-shard lance liquefied, its corrupted crystal dissolving into acrid smoke.
When the darkness receded, only Rivenn's helmetremained, its metal twisted into a grotesque teardrop. Eldrin crawled toward it, his hands blistering from the residual heat. The sigils pulsed rhythmically now, a cold, alien heartbeat beneath his skin.
R-Rivenn"·His voice cracked.
No answer. The plains lay silent, save for the crackle of dying embers.
A laugh cut through the stillnesslight, melodic, and utterly devoid of warmth. Eldrin looked up.
Perched on a skeletal tree branch was a woman clad in scholar's robes, her emerald eyes gleaming like fractured glass. A dagger of crystalline energy spun lazily in her hand.
Oh, *very* good,"she purred. Lady Ophira will be*thrilled* to see how your little tantrum scarred the land."
Eldrin staggered to his feet, the sigils flaring in warning. Who are you?"
tiora."She tilted her head, studying him like a specimen. Scholar, wanderer, and your only chance of surviving the next hour."
She gestured to the horizon, where dark shapes moved against the storm clouds. More Blackthorns incoming. And trust me, darlingnext time, theyil bring enough silence-powder to turn your bones to dust."
Eldrin clutched Rivenn's helmet tighter. Why help me?"
Liora's smile sharpened. Because youre the key to something far grander than Ophira's petty conquests." She leapt down, her robes fluttering like raven's wings. Now, come. The *real* game is about to begin."
As she turned, Eldrin glimpsed a faint glow beneath her collara- sigil mirroring his own, but twisted, *wrong*.
The wolves howled again, closer now.
He followed her into the storm.