The gate hadn't fully stopped grinding before the second wave hit.
More boots thundered across stone. Not footsoldiers. These were knight-commanders. Faster. Meaner. Their armor bore etchings of the Marshal's crest, a split sun and jagged crown .. burnished into every plate.
Zee didn't wait.
He flicked his wrist and vanished. A ripple through the air. The lead knight swung where he had been a heartbeat before .. nothing.
From behind, Zee reappeared in a shimmer of ash, whispering a word in an older tongue.
Spellsteel.
His blade burst in arcane light, edge shimmering with kinetic crackle, and he plunged it into the knight's exposed back. The armor buckled. A burst of blue fire erupted from the wound.
The man dropped before he could scream.
Torren was already mid-roll, slashing low at the knees of another. The knight toppled, but caught Torren's arm with a backhanded swing. The clash of steel against bone echoed sharp.
A third came for Sevi, sword raised.
Zee turned and extended his free hand.
Ash Bolt.
A spiral of burning gray tore across the gap, slamming into the knight's chest. Not enough to kill, but enough to stagger. Sevi finished him with a feint and strike, still clutching her wound.
Vile struck without warning .. her blades finding the gaps between plate with ruthless precision. One knight fell with a silent choke. Another collapsed mid-step, blood slicking the floor before his knees even hit. She didn't pause to speak. She was already moving to the next.
They pressed forward.
A fourth knight blocked their path .. taller than the rest, visor sculpted into a permanent sneer.
"Enough," he barked. "You trespass in death's name."
Zee didn't reply. He dropped low and vanished again.
The knight adjusted, anticipating the strike.
But Zee didn't aim for the body.
He reappeared at the knight's feet, slamming both palms to the ground.
A ring of burning glyphs exploded outward, staggering everyone near .. and knocking the tall knight from his stance.
Torren leapt on the moment. One blade to the gut. One to the throat.
Silence returned.
Only the great gate remained now, leading deeper into the fortress's heart. It swung shut behind them.
Sevi coughed, breath thin. "One more door."
Zee looked ahead. "No turning back."
They passed through.
---
The chamber beyond was wide and cold. Tapestries hung like flayed skin, soaked in dust and years. At the far end, beneath a blackened sun crest, stood a throne of stone and iron.
On it sat the Marshal.
He was not in armor.
He didn't need it.
His presence alone filled the hall like a drawn blade. Mid-forties, lean muscle, close-cropped hair silver at the edges. One hand rested on the armrest. The other held a goblet .. not of wine, but something thicker. Blood? Or something worse?
At his side stood a man. Massive. Wide across the shoulders. His cloak was red, his frame nearly twice the breadth of anyone in the room. A sword the size of a doorframe rested along his spine, and even at rest, he radiated violence.
The Marshal looked up slowly. His eyes settled first on Vile.
"...You."
The word was not surprise. It was memory.
"I should've known. Mira never acts without layers. And you... her loyal hound." He stood, fluid as a hunter. "Did she promise you absolution? Or just a cleaner leash?"
Vile said nothing.
"You brought them here?" he asked her. "You, of all people?"
Zee stepped forward. "She brought herself."
The Marshal's eyes slid to him. Cold. Appraising. "And you... You're the one causing all this noise. No name. No banner. Just fire and whispers."
He smiled. It didn't reach his eyes.
"I'll deal with you in a moment," he said. Then to Vile, "But Mira first. I'll kill her slow, once I've peeled you open and see what orders she buried in your spine."
Vile's fingers tightened on her dagger, but she didn't move.
The bodyguard beside the Marshal stirred .. just slightly.
Zee's eyes tracked him. "Bodyguard?"
The Marshal nodded. "My shadow. Don't bother remembering his name. You won't live long enough to say it."
Zee didn't blink. "You're not wrong. This ends soon."
The Marshal sat back, expression calm.
"So it does."