Chapter 38 (Part 10)
The sound of clashing steel and shattering magic filled the chamber like a storm that refused to end. The armored Sectreps advanced in disciplined waves, their black fire blades burning with relentless hunger.
Alok's chains darted across the battlefield like serpents, striking and binding, but even as he felled one soldier, another rose from the shadows to replace it.
"They… don't stop coming…" Ceya gasped, her magic circle flickering as she fired another volley of glowing arrows.
Namea's flames wavered against the soldiers' armor, her face pale with exhaustion. "If we keep this up we'll be drained before we even reach the Extera."
Rihan snarled, slamming his sword into the chestplate of a Sectrep, sending it crashing back. "Then we don't stop. We break through!"
The Pendant's Whispers
Alok staggered as the pendant against his chest pulsed again harder this time. The rhythm echoed in his head like a second heartbeat. But this time, he heard something else within it. A faint whisper, almost like a voice too far away to catch.
"…bind… seal… remember…"
He froze for a moment, staring at the chain coiled around his arm. It's speaking to me.
"Alok!" Serina's voice snapped him back, her blade slicing through a Sectrep trying to flank him. "Don't lose focus we're surrounded!"
Alok's eyes burned with determination. "No… this isn't endless. There's a pattern. These soldiers are being called by something."
The Cracks Form
As the battle raged, the murals along the hall began to change again. Small cracks formed in the stone, glowing faintly with blue light. The inscriptions shifted, as if responding to Alok's presence.
"The chain awakens when the bearer bleeds. The path to the Extera opens only when despair touches the soul."
Alok's breath caught. "Despair…? Does that mean… it wants us to suffer before it reveals the way?"
Before he could answer, a Sectrep's blade grazed his side, cutting deep. Pain seared through him, blood splattering across the floor. The pendant pulsed brighter in response feeding on his wound.
The Sectreps staggered. For the first time, some of them halted, their red eyes flickering uncertainly.
Rihan rushed to his side. "Alok! You're bleeding too much"
But Alok's chains surged with new power, glowing with the same blue light that seeped from his wound.
"No… this is what it wants. My blood… it's unlocking something."No… this is what it wants. My blood… it's unlocking something."
The Voice Beyond the Chain
The whispers grew louder.
"You are not the first… and you will not be the last. The bearer walks the labyrinth. The seal remembers."
Alok's chest tightened. Not the first…?
Was it his father? Had his father also stood here, bleeding before the chain?
The thought fueled him, but it also chilled him to the core.
Foreshadowing the Next Terror
At the far end of the hall, the Extera remained seated on its throne of shadows. Its eyes glowed brighter now, reflecting the chains' new power.
It leaned forward slightly, as if amused.
"Yes… bleed, little bearer. Despair. Only then will the truth be carved into your soul."
Its voice rippled through the air, and with it, a new sound emerged. The armored Sectreps began to fuse together. Black flames erupted as three of them melted into one hulking figure twice the size, plated with jagged armor, a war-axe in its hands.
The ground cracked beneath its steps as it advanced.
Namea's eyes widened. "That's… that's not just a soldier anymore. That's a war-beast."
Rihan set his stance, sweat dripping down his face. "Then we take it together."
Alok's chains tightened around his arm, glowing brighter than ever. His blood dripped onto the stone floor, each drop igniting faint blue sparks. He raised his head, locking eyes with the monstrous fused Sectrep.
"If despair is what you want…" Alok's voice was low, steady, defiant. "…then you'll choke on mine."
The fused Sectrep roared, charging with its massive war-axe raised high. The chamber shook as the battle entered a new, terrifying stage.