The cavern shook with a deep and unsettling vibration. Dust floated down from the glowing crystal ceiling as something enormous approached the entrance. The Moonspawn growled in distorted, broken voices, but underneath their chorus was a much heavier sound.
A long cold breath.Slow. Ancient.Like a creature waking after centuries of sleep.
Lyria stood close behind Kaelith, gripping his cloak as if her fingers could anchor her to reality.
"What is that?" she whispered.
Kaelith did not answer at first. His shoulders were rigid and the silver runes along his armor brightened with rising power.
"It is a Voidborne," he finally said."A creature born from lunar corruption in its purest form."
Lyria's pulse quickened. "Can you defeat it?"
His silence was more frightening than any reply.
The cavern trembled harder.
A massive clawed hand slammed into the entrance, curling around stone and crystal. Then the creature stepped fully into view. Its body was twisted and enormous, shaped from shadow and bone. A glowing void burned in its chest, a dark light that pulsed like a diseased heart.
Lyria felt her breath catch in her throat.
Kaelith summoned a blade of moonlight, silver and sharp, lifting it with calm determination.
"Stay behind me," he said.
But Lyria's body was reacting to something else entirely.
A fierce warmth bloomed beneath her skin. The mark on her collarbone pulsed in rhythm with her heartbeat. The walls of the cavern answered, lighting up in the same rhythm as if the entire room was breathing with her.
"Kaelith," she whispered, touching his arm. "The cavern is reacting to me."
"I know," he replied quietly."That is what worries me."
The Voidborne let out a piercing cry. The sound shook the cavern and made Lyria's vision blur. Kaelith stepped forward and swung his blade in a crescent arc. A burst of silver light erupted, tearing into the creature's torso.
The monster staggered but did not fall.
The gaping wound in its chest mended instantly, the voidlight inside it pulsing stronger.
Kaelith exhaled sharply. Lyria had never heard him sound frustrated. It chilled her more than the creature itself.
The Voidborne attacked without warning.
Kaelith reacted instantly. He wrapped an arm around Lyria's waist and pulled her behind him just as the creature's claws smashed into the ground. Crystals shattered and scattered across the cavern floor like glowing shards.
"Do not move from my side," Kaelith said, his voice low and steady.
Lyria nodded, but the energy inside her surged again.Hot. Bright. Overwhelming.
She pressed a hand to her chest, gasping. "Kaelith… something is happening. I feel like… like something is trying to wake up inside me."
He looked back at her with a rare flicker of worry in his silver eyes.
"That is your celestial core," he said softly. "It is awakening faster than I expected."
The Voidborne lunged again.
Kaelith stepped forward to strike, but this time the cavern responded before he could move.
Light burst from the glowing veins in the ground and shot upward, circling Lyria. The warmth in her chest exploded outward, forming a radiant shield of soft silver energy around her.
Kaelith froze.
"Lyria," he whispered, "this is not normal. This is…"He swallowed."This is power no awakened soul should have so early."
The Voidborne slammed against the shield. The impact shook Lyria, but the shield held strong, shimmering with a gentle glow like moonlight on water.
Lyria trembled. "I did not do that. I cannot control it."
"Not yet," Kaelith said."But your core can. It is protecting you on instinct."
The Voidborne roared in frustration and struck again. Cracks formed in the shield. Lyria cried out, clutching her chest as pain surged through her.
Kaelith moved instantly, placing his hand on the shield. His silver aura flowed into it, reinforcing the light.
"Stay with me," he said softly. "Do not let go of the light inside you."
Lyria lifted her gaze to him, breath shaking.Their energies merged again, warm and cold intertwining like two halves of the same soul.
The shield blazed brighter.
Kaelith planted his feet firmly and raised his blade.
"Lyria," he said, his voice steady and powerful, "you do not know it yet, but this bond between us was formed so we could fight together."
Light burst from the blade as he lifted it.
"Let me show you."
The cavern filled with blinding silver.
And the Voidborne screamed.