THE BLACKTHORN CODEX
Episode 47 — The Heart of Selerion
The Codex floated above them, shining more intensely than ever, as if to signal the next challenge: the Heart of Selerion and its ultimate masters.
November 17, 1945 — 11:30 AM
The Heart of Selerion was an abyssal chasm where light seemed to bend in on itself. Columns of lava floated, waves of black water moved like living tentacles, and ultimate sorcerers materialized, their incandescent eyes reflecting every color of fear and power.
Clarisse and Leander, fused with Borax, felt the tension. Every breath in this infernal ocean echoed like a war drum.
— "They won't let anyone out alive..." Leander murmured. —"Then we must become more than them..." Clarisse replied.
The sorcerers attacked together, combining volcano + lightning, ice + explosion, and mental powers. Each attack seemed to reshape Selerion himself: columns of magma burst from the ocean floor, lightning struck through the water like snakes, and icy waves immobilized everything in their path.
Clarisse and Léandre countered with combinations never before attempted:
Fire + lightning + apparition/vanish, striking several sorcerers at once and creating streaks of light in the black water.
Ice + volcano + electrocution, transforming the water around each enemy into a death trap.
Mental power, disrupting the doubles and forcing the sorcerers to reveal their true positions.
Borax, fused with them, amplified their reflexes and endurance, allowing them to fly underwater, dodge attacks instantly, and counter with surgical precision.
The fight transformed into an apocalyptic ballet:
The sorcerers used a combination of volcanoes and explosions, attempting to create mini-volcanoes that erupted around them.
Clarisse responded with lightning and ice, forming swirling columns that neutralized the mini-volcanoes and electrified the water.
Leander combined teleportation and elemental fire, striking multiple points at once, disrupting enemy coordination.
Every movement of the sorcerers and heroes sculpted the space around them, transforming Selerion into a living tableau of chaos and light.
An older sorcerer appeared, his mental power capable of creating multiple mirages of Clarisse and Léandre, and manipulating the local gravity to crush them against the invisible walls.
Léandre concentrated his mental power, amplified by Borax, distinguishing the real Clarisse among the mirages.
Clarisse used Apparition/Disappearance + Explosion, striking the illusions and revealing the ancient sorcerer's true face.
After a coordinated assault, the ancient sorcerer was repelled, and the others followed. Selerion's source of power—a black crystal pulsing in the shadows—was now visible.
Clarisse and Léandre understood: to return to their time, they would have to use this crystal and channel their combined powers, but this plan would require total mastery of all their gifts and perfect synchronization with Borax.
They took a moment to breathe, their bodies exhausted but their minds awake. The battle had revealed:
Selerion's logic and the sorcerers' combat patterns.
The increased power of the fusion with Borax.
The possibilities of combining their elemental and mental powers.
Clarisse murmured:
"Now that we know how they think and attack, we can plan our path... to the time gate."
Leander nodded:
"And this time, we will let nothing separate us, neither illusions, nor sorcerers... nor time itself."
The black crystal pulsed more strongly, reacting to their presence. The Codex lit up, projecting runes into the water, revealing the route to the portal that could take them back to their time. But Selerion's guardian, invisible, still watched them, ready to test their ultimate courage and mastery of his powers.
Their ordeal was not over. It had only just begun.