The Idris night was a tapestry of stars, their light dimmed by the Institute's rune-etched domes, a fragile shield against the void's whisper. The war room's stone walls pulsed with angelic runes, their glow flickering as if sensing the new threat—a primordial entity, the Voidheart, tied to the multiverse's origin. My pendant burned against my chest, its crescent moon rune a frantic pulse, a tether to the Binding Rune's jagged star on my arm, now scarred with traces of Unity, Return, Eternity, Creation, and Balance. Mira stood beside me, her Clarity rune glowing on her palm, her small frame a pillar of courage despite the battles that had forged us. Kyle was at my side, his Resilience rune a steady glow on his hand, but a Voidheart fragment—a dark pulse in his soul, born from his demonic echo—granted visions of a realm beyond existence, his eyes haunted by glimpses of annihilation.
The Orb of Seraphiel rested on a rune-etched table, its crystal surface pulsing with angelic light, a relic that had banished Seraphiel's shadow but awakened the Voidheart, a force Elara had glimpsed in her darkest experiments. The Balance rune's harmony had preserved my soul, but its cost lingered, a fragility that made every rune-drawing a dance with oblivion. The pendant's burn whispered of the Voidheart, a shadow that could erase reality itself.
Maryse's voice cut through the room's tension, her whip coiled, her face a mask of resolve. "The Clave's united, but barely," she said, addressing the team—Mira, Kyle, Isabelle, Alec, Jace, Clary, Lydia, Catarina, Magnus, Tessa, and Panem's resistance leaders, Katniss Everdeen, Peeta Mellark, and Johanna Mason. "Portals are opening, black and formless, tied to the Voidheart. Elara's warnings point to a hidden vault in Idris, where her final rune—Oblivion—may rest."
My heart lurched, Elara's journal heavy in my hands, its pages filled with runes and cryptic fears. "Oblivion?" I said, my voice sharp. "A rune to erase the Voidheart? What did Elara know?"
Tessa stepped forward, her gray hair catching the rune-light, her bracelet glowing. "The Voidheart is older than angels or demons," she said, her voice calm but heavy. "Elara glimpsed it during her Binding Rune experiments, a force that birthed the multiverse but seeks to reclaim it. She hid the Oblivion rune in a vault beneath Alicante, warded by her blood. A rogue warlock, allied with the Capitol, is hunting it."
Mira's Clarity rune flared, her eyes narrowing. "I can find the vault," she said, her voice steady. "I felt the orb, the relic, the archive. I can feel this too."
Kyle's hand brushed mine, his Resilience rune glowing, but the Voidheart fragment pulsed, a vision flashing across his face—a realm of formless dark, a heart of black flame beating within. "It's calling me," he said, his voice low, pained. "The fragment—it's pulling me to the void."
Catarina's eyes darkened, her blue hands tracing Kyle's chest. "The fragment's a piece of the Voidheart," she said. "It's merging with your soul, risking your existence. We need to sever it, or you'll become its vessel."
I clutched the orb's case, its warmth grounding me. "Then we go to the vault," I said, my voice fierce. "We find Oblivion, stop the Voidheart, save Kyle."
Isabelle's whip swayed, her grin fierce. "Another Idris dive?" she said. "Let's make it count."
Katniss nodded, her bow slung across her back. "The Capitol's forces are moving," she said. "Lysandra's back, leading rogues and Peacekeepers. We'll need to hit hard."
Magnus smirked, tossing a glittering spark into the air. "Hard's my specialty," he said. "But Lilia, you'll need a triple ritual—Creation, Clarity, Oblivion—to banish the Voidheart. It's in Elara's journal, but it's catastrophic. It could reset the multiverse—or erase you."
My stomach twisted, the pendant searing my chest, but Mira's hand found mine, her Clarity rune a spark of hope. "You're my sister," she said, her voice fierce. "You'll always come back."
Kyle's eyes met mine, his scar a mirror to mine, his voice soft. "We're together," he said, and for a moment, the war room faded, his warmth a vow against the void.
But an alarm blared, the room's runes flaring black, and the ground shook, a portal tearing open in the courtyard, spitting void wraiths—formless shadows with eyes of black flame. The fight was immediate, a storm of blades, arrows, and magic, and I knew the Voidheart was watching, its heart beating closer.
The courtyard battle was a formless nightmare, Shadowhunters and rebels fighting as one. Isabelle's whip cracked, slicing a void wraith's form, its shadow dissolving into ash. Alec's arrows flew, each tipped with runes that burned through void energy. Jace and Clary fought as a unit, their blades a blur, while Katniss's arrows struck true, pinning a wraith's core. Peeta's strength held a shadow back, Johanna's axe a whirlwind, and Lydia's blade danced, her Clave precision deadly. Magnus's magic erupted, a storm of blue fire clashing with black flame, and Tessa wove runes, her bracelet glowing, shielding the team.
I drew Speed, Strength, Unity, Eternity, and Creation, my sword a storm, and fought beside Kyle, his daggers flashing, his Resilience rune glowing. Mira stayed behind me, her knife slashing, her Clarity rune burning, exposing a wraith's core—a pulsing void heart. "Lilia, there!" she shouted, and I swung, severing the core, the wraith dissolving in a wave of shadow.
The portal flickered, the Voidheart's voice echoing, a hollow roar. "The multiverse is mine," it said, and a black rune flared, summoning more wraiths. I drew the Balance rune, its waves glowing, and the orb flared, amplifying its power. The portal shuddered, weakening, but the backlash hit me, pain searing my scars, my vision blurring. Kyle caught me, his Voidheart fragment pulsing, his voice urgent. "You're fading," he said, his hand steadying me.
"I have to," I said, my voice fierce, the pendant burning. "For you, for everyone."
Magnus's magic sealed the portal, the wraiths thinning, but the courtyard was a wreck, stone cracked, runes blackened. Tessa led us to Alicante's depths, a labyrinth of rune-etched tunnels, the vault's entrance a massive door warded with Elara's blood. Mira's Clarity rune flared, guiding us through traps—void-triggered spikes, illusory voids, spectral whispers of Elara's fears.
The vault was a chamber of crystal and shadow, its air thick with primordial magic, a pedestal holding a rune-etched tablet—the Oblivion rune, a black star within a void spiral, pulsing with annihilative power. I drew the Binding Rune, its jagged star clashing with the wards, and Mira's Clarity rune burned, unlocking the tablet. Elara's notes were etched beside it, warning of Oblivion's cost: *"To erase the Voidheart, you erase yourself."*
Tessa's voice was grim. "Oblivion can unmake the Voidheart," she said, "but it demands your existence. Elara never used it, fearing the void."
Kyle's Voidheart fragment pulsed, pain twisting his face, and I clutched the tablet, my resolve steel. "I'll learn it," I said. "For you, for Mira."
But the vault shook, a portal tearing open, and Lysandra emerged—resurrected, her silver hair a halo, her red runes pulsing, rogue Shadowhunters, Peacekeepers, and a rogue warlock at her side. "The Oblivion rune is mine," she said, her voice a hiss, and the fight began.
The vault became a battlefield, crystal shattering, shadows swirling. Isabelle's whip cracked, Alec's arrows flew, Jace and Clary's blades danced, while Katniss's arrows struck rogues, Peeta's strength held Peacekeepers, and Johanna's axe cleaved through armor. Lydia fought her former allies, her blade a vow, and Magnus's magic flared, Tessa's runes shielding us.
I drew Speed, Strength, Unity, Eternity, Creation, and Balance, my sword a storm, and fought beside Kyle, his Resilience rune glowing, his Voidheart fragment surging. Mira's Clarity rune burned, exposing Lysandra's wards, and she slashed with her knife, her courage a fire. "Stay back!" I shouted, cutting down a rogue, but her eyes blazed, Elara's defiance in her blood.
Lysandra's magic was a void storm, her red runes countering ours, and her rogues fought with Clave precision, their betrayal a wound. The rogue warlock—Zephyr, his eyes black with void energy—wove runes that clashed with ours, his power a mirror to Malachi's. I drew the Oblivion rune, its void star glowing, and the orb flared, amplifying its power. The vault shook, Lysandra's portal weakening, but the rune demanded my existence, my vision blurring, memories of Mira, Kyle, Elara fading.
Kyle's Resilience rune flared, his hand finding mine, his voice a lifeline. "You're not alone," he said, and Mira's Clarity rune burned, grounding me. The Oblivion rune surged, a void harmony, shattering Lysandra's wards, her rogues retreating, but Zephyr laughed, his portal stabilizing. "The Voidheart comes," he said, and a void wraith charged, its shadow searing my skin.
Katniss's arrow struck, the wraith dissolving, and I drew Severance, its glow shattering Zephyr's rune, his body dissolving into ash. Lysandra retreated, her portal collapsing, and the vault held, the Oblivion tablet in Tessa's hands, Katniss's resistance cheering.
Back in Idris, the Clave rallied, Maryse's leadership uniting the factions. Kyle's Voidheart fragment was fading, his Resilience rune strong, his visions of the Voidheart's realm a guide. But a new portal opened, revealing the Voidheart—a colossus of black flame and formless shadow, its realm a landscape of void storms and shattered stars.
Tessa revealed the triple ritual—Creation, Clarity, Oblivion—to banish the Voidheart. "It requires you, Mira, and Kyle," she said, "but it risks a multiversal reset. Oblivion will erase you, or remake reality."
Mira's hand found mine, her Clarity rune glowing. "We're family," she said, her voice fierce. "We'll do this."
Kyle's Resilience rune glowed, his voice soft. "I'm with you," he said, his scar warm against mine, and the team rallied—Katniss, Peeta, Johanna, Isabelle, Alec, Jace, Clary, Lydia, Magnus, Tessa, and celestial allies, rogue warlocks seeking redemption.
The ritual began in the Voidheart's realm, the orb and tablet flaring, our blood mixing, Creation, Clarity, and Oblivion glowing. The Voidheart emerged, its voice a cosmic annihilation. "Reality is mine," it said, but Mira's Clarity rune burned, exposing its core, and my Oblivion rune surged, erasing its form, a void harmony banishing it.
The rune demanded everything, my existence fading, but Kyle's voice, Mira's touch, Katniss's fire pulled me back. The Voidheart dissolved, the portals sealed, but the pendant's burn whispered of a final truth—a balance beyond the void, a new multiverse waiting. Idris stood, Panem fought, and reality held, but Lilia Thorn was transformed, the Oblivion rune a black scar, her destiny a cosmic dawn.
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**Author's Note**
Shadowhunters and Tributes, you're ETERNAL LEGENDS for conquering this MONUMENTAL Chapter 17! 😱 This one's a reality-defining epic, and I'm SCREAMING over Lilia's Oblivion rune, Mira's Clarity, Kyle's fragment, and that Voidheart showdown—can we sob about that ending?! 👀 What's your vibe on Katniss's resistance, Lysandra's defeat, or the new dawn? Drop EVERY theory, feel, and fave moment in the comments—I'm LIVING for your thoughts! If you're obsessed with *Flames of the Shadows*, please smash that vote button and add it to your library. Next chapter's coming soon, and it's gonna be a COSMIC rebirth. Thanks for being the most phenomenal readers in ALL the multiverses! 💖