I didn’t question how Emilca might know that and waved my staff, opening the way to Haven. Even the fatigue couldn’t dull the relief I felt as the swirling gate appeared, and for a moment, I had to force down the urge to fall into its embrace.

Silhouettes appeared within, and in seconds, materialized in Enusia. Borealis was the first to appear, screeching as she swerved, streaking to my side. I caught him with a tight smile, ignoring the burn of his feathers on my sungpurge as I nuzzled my cheek to his. Humans, elves, and demons poured out after him. Spells lit up the air as they warded against the heat. A few high-level mages cast Mind Link, sending the tendrils of their magic through the walls. The connections stabilized a moment later as they found their preplanned marks, connecting the reinforcements to the Fatesworn already in the city above.

In seconds, they had secured the entrance and begun the ascent to the keep above. Fighting echoed down the tunnels as they ran into church forces headed toward us, but in my heart, I wasn’t worried. With the Fatesworn here in force, the battle for Darkreign Keep was as good as over.

"My Lady," Kahlen said, appearing from the gate and rushing to my side. "Where are the others?"

I shook my head. "They...couldn’t follow. It was too dangerous. Please, would you find them?"

"Right away."

He blurred away, but others took his place. Two full squads of a dozen fifth and sixth-level soldiers and mages took up a perimeter around the shard, securing our location against the unlikely threat of enemies that appeared. A small mage unit approached me, hurrying their step as they took in my condition.

"Gods, what have you gotten yourself into this time?" a motherly mage said, frowning at me with he rhands on her hips.

"Sorry, Elinore." I hung my head and hunched my shoulders in preparation for a good scolding. Elinore was even more strict than R’lissea.

But she just sighed, shaking her head. "I’ll never understand how you’ve survived this long. But sit down, I’ll take care of you. Just like old times."

I nodded meekly, gingerly sitting on a smooth slab of obsidian upturned by the fight. She laid her hands on my shoulders and began to cast. My breath hitched at the surge of gold and green magic, a Requiem stronger and more practiced than even my own. It flowed over my wounds, teasing the sunpurge away with barely an itch. My breathing eased immediately, and I let out a choked sob, hugging Borealis to my chest.

"Thank you," I whispered.

She patted my head, rubbing between my horns. "My pleasure, my Lady. Now that the sunpurge’s gone, let’s see about the rest of those wounds. It can’t be comfortable living with a hole in your side."

I jolted upright as my flesh crawled beneath her magic, my veins filling with ice. A terrible itchiness wracked my tail and side as they mended, bones snapping into place, muscle, veins, and tissue forming around it. When the last scratch was gone, she waved her hand, mending the tears and holes in my dress.

"You’re lucky we got here when we did," she said, pulling back with a tired smile. "I hadn’t realized the damage was so bad. That blast disintegrated some of your organs and--"

I held up a hand, my newly healed stomach doing a flip. "I-I’m alright without hearing the details."

She chuckled lightly and rested her hand on my head again. I hunched my shoulders slightly, my tail flicking, but didn’t duck away. Instead, my fingers curled into my bloodied skirt. She opened her mouth, intending to ask me what the matter was, but froze as a tremendous surge of power rose behind us. Emlica’s purple magic reflected off the rivers of lava, thousands of runes appearing across the cavern. They blazed with growing light, spinning together in a maelstrom of power, each falling into place in a magic circle that surpassed the size of the World Barrier.

The sudden burden on my soul took my breath away, and I screwed my eyes shut, gasping. My every muscle tensed, fighting against the draw, but Emlica was merciless. There was no stopping it, no fighting her dominance. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The circle spun faster, a deep hum thrumming through the floor and into my bones. The molten magma dimmed against its radiance, and with a soft gasp, I realized it wasn’t a single circle, but eight overlapping, all formed in perfect sync. I didn’t even recognize a third of the runes.

The hum came to a crescendo, and just as I feared it might shake the teeth out of my mouth, the magic circles emitted a pulse of light that rang across the room like the toll of a crystalline bell.

The hum came to a crescendo, and just as I feared it might shake the teeth out of my mouth, the magic circles emitted a pulse of light that rang across the room like the toll of a crystalline bell. The sudden silence that followed was jarring, the vertigo washing over me as the cavern stilled and the drain on my mana vanished but for a trickle. My head spun, the sudden silence in the chaos too much for my exhausted mind to process.

A thick river of mana burst from the shard, flowing around Emlica in a twisting bow before plunging back into its sparkling depths. More followed, running from facet to facet, entwining through the cavern like the fine embroidery of Blacksand. I shuddered as the currents of mana caressed my soul, overwhelmed by its potency.

"What is this?" Elinore asked, her voice thick with awe.

"Leylines," I answered softly. "She’s drawn them from the shard, like diverting a river. Next..."

Emlica snapped her fingers, and a dozen of the ley lines tore apart. Her face twisted in a scowl. I could feel them bucking against her control, trying to writhe like a serpent with its tail cut off. With deliberate care, she separated two twisting currents from the mass and brought them to the ground. Each had a twenty-foot radius, seething with enough mana to feed a World Barrier on its own. Even a slight lapse in control would cause a cataclysm big enough to bear this subterranean cavern to the open sky.

"This can’t be natural," Elinore mumbled.

Emlica summoned another series of magic circles, casting a sister spell to the one the apostles and demons cast on the northern continent. The surface of the ley lines stabilized, forming a mirror-like surface opposed to each other. A gate of sorts.

Seconds later, streams of infernal mana flowed through one of the leylines, forming into figures as they emerged from the gate. The first to appear was Constance, leading a horde of blade and fire demons. They snapped and hissed as they looked around, Constance’s gaze fixing on me.

"You did it," he said, approaching with a hurried gait. "I can’t believe it. You actually did it."

"Barely," I mumbled, "Luke’s...over there."

His eyes narrowed. "That idiot." He looked back at me, and his face softened. Softer than I’d seen him before, even with Evla. "I suppose it must not be too bad if you’re here."

I shook my head. "He killed a ninth-level and absorbed his soul. They were either hyper compatible or the opposite. I still don’t know if it’s dangerous or not, so I’m just...waiting."

"For?"

I shrugged helplessly. "He’s on his own right now. I couldn’t cast a spell if I wanted to. But you should get going," I said, nodding at the Ley Lines. "We took too long here as it is."

He hesitated, giving one more glance at Luke, before nodding. "You’re right. I’ve waited too long for a chance to bring the fight to the church. No sense stalling any longer. Thank you, Xiviyah. And make sure that bastard wakes up in time to join us. Radia is the most important battleground. We have to take it today."

I nodded, and he turned, rejoining the gathering horde. Already, they spilled across the cavern, kept from lunging at us by the overwhelming auras of the Fatesworn. They might be the vanguard of Constance’s horde, but they were practically scions compared to the Elite of the Fatesworn.

Without another look back, the Blade Apostle stepped into the opposing Leyline, vanishing off in a stream. His horde surged after him, and in seconds, the stream of incoming demons had narrowed, feeding directly into it.

"Why couldn’t she just place them next to each other and skip this part. It seems tedious," Elinore asked.

"Emlica only brought out a sliver of each ley line, but even tearing that apart is no easy thing. If she tried to force them together, they would, er, react poorly, or so she said. One half going one direction, the other against it. No one would survive the transition."

"But one at a time? It’s going to take an hour for the entire horde to cross through. And he’s only got a tenth of the total."

"He was just the first. The, um, test, I guess. To make sure it actually worked."

She went quiet at that. "Ruthless," she finally murmured. "But I suppose someone had to go first."

As we spoke, Emlica drew down another pair of severed ley lines and lined them up. This time, it was Evla who entered. She looked as if she was about to run to me, but then bit her lip, mustering her composure with a cold frown. I gave her a small smile and waved. The tip of her tail flicked once before she stiffened it, giving an apprehensive look at the demons following behind. Giving me a slightly apologetic look, she hurried into the ley line and streaked away.

As Emlica began bringing down more ley lines, I called out to Fable. He padded over, licking my cheek.

"Not now," I grumbled, wiping the saliva away with my sleeve. "I saw what you put in your mouth today. Please, just bring me Luke."