Shadrex, Erdrain, Scylla, and the elf princess navigated the thick underbrush with utmost caution. Each footfall reverberated unnaturally, the sound of snapping twigs amplified in the stillness. The aftermath of the Starfall emerald's destruction had left the ground marred and precarious, while the air shimmered with the lingering magic from their recent confrontation.
Leaves danced around them, faintly glowing blue beneath the fractured moonlight, casting long, twisting shadows that writhed like serpents. Shadrex's sword hung at his side, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat. The mark beneath his skin burned—an ever-present whisper, a reminder that he was both a weapon and a target.
"We should rest," Erdrain suggested softly, brushing leaves and dirt from his brow. "Just for half an hour."
Scylla shook her head, her hands trembling slightly around her staff. "We can't. Not yet. That fragment... it's close. I can feel it. The air feels... wrong."
The Kiran moved silently ahead, his eyes darting to every shadow. "She's right. Something is urging us forward. Or perhaps... something is hunting us."
No one noticed the subtle tremor in the ground until it was too late.
The first attack came without warning. A massive shadow blotted out the sky as it descended from the treeline—swift and sinewy, like a faceless clock glinting with dark magic. Shadrex barely raised his sword in response to Erdrain's warning, "No!" As he lunged at the entity, the impact hurled him backward, struggling to brace himself before crashing to the ground. Pain shot through his side as the mark flared violently.
Erdrain sprang forward, spear extended. He dashed toward the creature, unleashing a horizontal blast of energy as he activated the ruin on his spear. The heat from the force washed over him before it reached the creature, and he realized this was no ordinary monster. The being's focus was fixed on Shadrex, but it could easily strike Scylla.
The elf princess raised her hands, weaving a barrier of silvery light that radiated outward. Sparks danced across the forest floor, attempting to repel the dark figure drawing closer, but the barrier faltered.
Shadrex struggled to his feet. His sword pulsed aggressively, resonating with a strange red energy. The creature hesitated as he raised it.
"It knows who you are," Scylla shouted. "It's not after the mark; it's after you, Shadrex!"
As Erdrain unlocked the ruin in his spear to counter the advancing wave of energy, a torrent of blood spilled from his nose and mouth, and his eyes turned completely black. He screamed as his fingers burned, hurling his spear with dark energy that tore through the ground, only for it to hang mid-air against the faceless figure. The creature wrested control of the spear, leaving Erdrain to fight back with telekinesis, his fingers breaking under the strain as he inwardly pondered his fate. The spear, surrounded by supernova energy, flew toward his chest.
Just in time, Shadrex intervened, his eyes glowing dark red, his hair flaring upward. He gritted his teeth, gathering all the energy around him—water and air merging with the pulsating red energy. He compressed the water so forcefully that it shone like burning lava mixed with his power. His sword began to melt as he poured everything he had into a downward strike. The energy exploded like a big bang, obliterating everything in its path, driving the dark mist associated with the creature away. The residual magical energy traveled so far that Altheryon Vael'Lunaris sensed the presence of an immortal.
Scylla cast a quick barrier to shield Erdrain behind her, striking with unnerving speed. She faltered, gasping in pain as her staff clattered to the ground.
"No!" Shadrex roared.
Before he could collapse, Kiran stepped in just in time to prevent him from tumbling over the cliff he had inadvertently created.
Erdrain, already too weak to speak, lay bruised, while Scylla and Kiran exchanged confused glances, unsure of what to do. They heard a distant roar. "We have to leave," Scylla urged firmly as she mounted Erdrain's wild hound. "These beasts are drawn to powerful energy."
The forest raced past in a blur of shadows and twisting roots as Kiran urged her horse to go faster. The mare's hooves pounded the earth, sending vibrations up Kiran's spine while branches whipped past her face. Shadrex lay slumped against her, his heavy form leaning into her arm. His breath came shallow and uneven—not from any attack, but from the toll of the power he had unleashed earlier. He had pushed himself beyond human limits, and now his strength was nearly spent.
Behind them, the forest roared with pursuit.
"Kiran—left!" Scylla's voice echoed from above.
Kiran pulled the reins sharply just as a dark tendril of shadow slammed into the ground where her horse had been a heartbeat earlier. The impact split the earth, sending soil flying into the air.
She didn't look back; she already knew what hunted them.
The great serpent.
Born of null magic—a creature of jaws, shadows, and burning red eyes.
"Keep height!" Kiran shouted upward.
Scylla maneuvered between towering trees, riding Erdrain's wild hound through the air. The beast's spectral wings, rippling with unstable energy, propelled it through narrow spaces most flying creatures would collide with. Scylla held Erdrain's limp form against her with one arm while guiding the beast with the other.
Kiran drew her bow while riding, the string glowing faintly under her fingers.
Another roar erupted behind them.
"Faster, girl," Kiran whispered to her horse.
The mare obeyed, leaping a fallen trunk as Kiran twisted back in the saddle. She nocked a glowing emerald arrow.
"Pierce!"
The arrow shot past her shoulder like a streak of green lightning. Behind her, the serpent Hound emerged—towering, smoke-bodied, fanged—and the arrow exploded against its shoulder in a burst of emerald flame.
It slowed.
But not enough.
The creature reformed mid-stride, its smoky limbs twisting unnaturally as it kept pace with them.
Scylla dipped low, dodging a branch thicker than a building pillar. "Kiran! More wraiths coming from the east!"
"I hear them!"
A cluster of smaller null wraiths poured from the trees, shrieking like metal scraping stone. Kiran's horse vaulted a stream and hit the ground running, her braid snapping behind her in the wind.
"Hold steady, Shadrex," she whispered, her voice tight.
She couldn't afford to lose him. Not now.
Another roar shook the forest.
Kiran twisted in the saddle again, drawing a shimmering blue arrow.
"Split!"
The arrow multiplied into six mid-air, swirling around her horse like orbiting stars before launching upward toward the wraiths. Three struck true, bursting into flashes that reduced the wraiths to ash. The other three ricocheted off tree trunks, detonating just behind Scylla's flight path.
Scylla flinched. "Warn me next time!"
"Stay ahead of me, then!"
The wild hound folded its wings and dove beneath a tangle of branches, weaving through trunks as tall as towers. Scylla ducked low, shielding Erdrain's unconscious body from snapping limbs.
"Kiran, they're gaining!"
"I know!"
A chilling howl echoed from behind—closer now, too close. The bog serpent lunged between the trees, shattering a birch into splinters as it raced after them.
Kiran reached for the Radiant Fang—her most dangerous arrow. But she hesitated. The blast could harm her horse… or Shadrex… or even Scylla if she misfired.
Not yet.
Instead, she drew a silver-steel arrow etched with moonlit runes.
A spined tendril lashed forward from the beast—aimed for her horse's hind legs.
Kiran fired.
The wild hound spread its glowing wings.
The horse surged forward again.
Kiran felt the horse shaking but continued to push forward, even before it stumbled. Its breaths came in sharp, broken gasps, foam gathering at its mouth as its legs buckled. With one final desperate push, the exhausted ray collapsed to its knees and then to its side, trembling uncontrollably. Kiran barely managed to pull Shadrex close before they hit the ground. Dust rose around them as Scylla swooped down, landing hard but steady. With wings folded, the beast let out a deep rumbling growl, sensing that the danger was not yet gone. Scylla slid off, her eyes wide with worry. "Kiran—how bad is it?" she asked, noticing the spine mark on Ray, revealing that she was badly wounded.