The castle walls shook with the force of battle.
Kael and Elira ran, their footsteps pounding against the marble floors as the screams of dying men echoed behind them. Blood stained the halls of their home, blood of their kin, blood of traitors. The air crackled with magic as their enemies pursued them, relentless and unyielding.
They had been hunted before. But never like this.
Elira gasped as another wave of assassins emerged from a side corridor, cloaks billowing like smoke. A dagger flashed toward her throat.
Kael spun. Lightning erupted from his palm. The assassin vanished in a burst of searing light.
"Elira, keep moving!"
She didn't need to be told twice. They raced through the crumbling corridors of their once-grand home. Behind them, the fiercest warriors in Eldoria gave chase, clans that had warred for centuries, now united by fear of a prophecy.
Kael's mind raced. They had to reach the abyss.
They burst through the outer gates and into the city streets. The night was cold, the moon high and silent as the warzone unfolded. Eldoria burned.
From the rooftops, archers loosed enchanted arrows, streaks of red and blue light slicing through the air. Kael threw up a shield of fire, it wavered, strained. He was nearing his limit.
A wall of warriors blocked the main road ahead, conjuring deadly spells, sealing their escape.
No choice.
Kael turned down a narrow alley, dragging Elira with him. "We take the old tunnels."
She nodded, clutching her belly, wincing with each step.
The tunnels beneath Eldoria were ancient, carved by those who'd needed to disappear. But their enemies had planned for this too.
At the tunnel's entrance stood High Mages of the Council.
A full squadron of elite magicians. Spells already cast. Hands raised.
Kael reacted on instinct. A wave of force slammed into him, hurling him into stone. Vision blurred. Bones screamed. Elira's cry rang through the air as her magic flared.
The ground froze solid. Spikes of ice shot up, tearing through enemy lines, but there were too many.
Kael coughed blood. Trembled.
The forbidden spell.
Buried deep in his core. A last resort. One he swore he'd never use.
He whispered the incantation.
The air cracked. The tunnels split.
A storm unlike any Eldoria had ever seen exploded from within him. Thunder roared. Lightning danced. Fire consumed.
And Kael collapsed.
His limbs numb. His magic gone.
He couldn't move.
"Kael!"
Elira was beside him, her hands slick with blood, her face pale from her own wound. She dragged him forward, step by agonizing step, her body trembling from loss.
They reached the abyss.
The mist below churned. An endless fall.
Kael turned, vision darkening. More enemies closed in.
Elira looked into his eyes.
"Together," she whispered.
And they jumped.