Elyndros's sky tore as if struck by a blade. Black fire poured from the rift's gash, raining down in liquid streaks of molten shadow. I was on the ramparts, knew the sear of wings' ember‑scars just below my cuirass. A gust of wind flew through my hair, the smell of ozone and brimstone riding across my senses. Beneath them, Shield Wardens rushed forward, shooting into darkspawn that approached them with bolts of pure light.
"By the Primordial Flame," Commander Sylene gasped beside me. Her hair — ash‑white — whipped around her face. "Never seen anything like it."
I gritted my teeth as they burst out of the shockwave. One hundred flying beasts—void wyverns—descended through the rift, their talons sifted corruption. Hoarse, empty screams rent the air.
Lirael hobbled to her feet behind me, the white skin of her face shiny with sweat. Her gauntlet glowed violet. "I put more power into the pillar wards, but if there is a sustained attack, they will fall.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat. "Then we counterattack—fast and hard."
She shook her head, her voice squeezed. "Not enough time. We have to drain their firepower." She looked up at the east tower and the huge flying fortress - the Sky Citadel - that floated over it, pulsing with arcane engines. "If we can get the Citadel's shield down, we might be able to break the siege."
My heart thundered. The Citadel Whispered heart- local legend described the Citadel as being home to the ruling council of Elyndros- the floating key bastion powered bu a crystal core drawn from the ancient Draconic Aether. Its shield was not just structural — it was symbolic. Were it to collapse, so would the vault's moral foundation.
"Then let's teach them a lesson they won't forget." I leaped over the crenellation, firing the Emberheart Surge through my veins. The wall behind me erupted into a sheet of flame, and I threw myself into the air, extending toward the edge of the Citadel.
Lirael sprinted after me. "Kairo—wait!" she called. But I didn't slow.
The wind pulled at my wings' ember‑scars. I banked downwards, my blades cutting through the thick ash. The battlefield below me was pure chaos - wardens fighting void‑knights, refugees hiding behind barriers, and the Death Pillar's light wavering dangerously low.
A Void Wyvern pealed off and dived right at me with claws bared. I whipped to the left, wings fanning heat that steamed the hail of molten droplets as they struck shadow‑flesh. I could lash out with a hum of blade work and cut off its wing in mid‑dive. Screaming, the beast spiraled into the curved battlements.
Lirael caught up, breathless. "They're swarming!"
I nodded, my eyes tracing the outer hull of the Citadel. Its shield generators were arranged in pods distributed around the periphery, all thrumming with a bluish-white glow. I pointed to the nearest one. "There—two o'clock."
She followed my gaze. "But that section's reinforced. We'll never break that from the outside."
I clenched my fists. "We'll go inside."
Her eyes widened. "You can't—"
My wings flared, embers spitting. "I just did."
I canted toward the Citadel's docking bay—a yawning maw in its underbelly. Voidspawn boiled up around the opening, stalking in the air as wolves loping around a kill. I charged them head on and cast the Emberheart Surge. Fire danced up my arms as I tore through their line, making my way to the ceiling.
Wyverns spun to attack, and I rose to meet them in the air—plasma blade flickering and ember‑wings scorching wing skin, the dragons hurtling to the ground, falling in swathes of ash. Wyvern's screams and the ring of metal on flame reverberated like thunder.
Lirael followed, sending out bolts of purple magic that turned wyvern riders to dust before they could even draw breath. Behind us, Commander Sylene's wardens swept forward on the walls, casting their light‑forged javelins through the shadow‑knights.
We ruptured the docking bay in a fire and light of storm. The air was heavy with the reek of smoke and the drone of occult machinery. Marble tubes throbbed along the walls; cables snaked to huge generators in the bay's epicenter. Blaze-lit ruin sprawled at our feet—dead wyverns, embers seething in the cream-flecked bricks, shadows drippling away into light.
I touched down on a catwalk high in the air, near the ceiling, and my wings snapped tight. The generator pod lay ten yards ahead—six of crystal under a casing of obsidian, engraved with runes of binding. A control panel above it glowed red: SHIELD GENERATOR ONLINE.
Lirael was a step behind me, eyeballing with her gauntlet. "There's an emergency override, but the code's in the Citadel's core archives—on Level Three. We have to get to the control room, close the shield."
I exhaled, embers sputtering. "Then we move."
We crouched to the lower platform, and I struck the arcane locks of the emergency rails with a blow of my blade. There was a shower of sparks as the crack in the plate expanded. We squeezed through the gap into a service corridor, the walls still warm from the embers.
A company of wyvern riders rounded the curve, with lances extended. They anticipated panicky survivors running—two human dots cowering in the flames. They did not expect me.
I charged, a beacon of ember, and roared forth flame from my wings—just powerful enough to set off the wyverns' fuel cells. Six dragons popped, a fireball rolling down the corridor. The riders tumbled back, stunned.
Lirael ran on past them, gauntlet snarling. "Keep them busy!" she shouted.
I opened my arms and simply allowed the Emberheart Surge to course through my being. Flames licked my blade; with each slash, there was a hurricane." Swords of darkened shadow‑knights lofted as tongues of flame. Behind me Lirael's violet blades were cutting through the rotten steel doors.
We burst into a massive foyer: high arched ceiling, banners of the ruling council hanging over our heads, chandeliers of crystal dragon bone dripping with mana. The air shimmered with heat. Weapons raised sent a pair of armoured sentinels blocked the corridor beyond.
Lirael slowed, scanning. "We need a distraction."
I beat my wings, embers flaring. "I have an idea."
She eyed me warily. "Just don't… burn everything."
Jetting up into the air, I was a fireball in the middle of the foyer. The sentinels gaped. I flew over them, my wings burning the chandelier until it broke into a rain of crystal fragments. They ducked, roaring alarms.
Lirael seized the chance, racing between the guards and down the winding corridor. "I will see you in the control room - Level Three. she yelled over the roar.
I stood next to the shocked sentinels, panting, my armor coated in ash. "Move aside," I growled.
They hesitated, allegiances torn between duty and disgust at the dra-gon‑storm that I had become. The Emberheart Surge burned within me—reckless, uncontrolled. Their eyes darted toward the door. One nodded, stepping aside.
Lirael led me down halls that wound like the spine of a serpant. After all, we never knew what grim spectacle to expect around the next corner: hanging cages in which smiths toiled to craft weapons for the Void Legion, ceilings streaked with alien ichor, vault doors inscribed with glyphs, a precaution against containment breaches.
We walked by a mural of the founders of the Council—giants sitting on dragons, building Elyndros's first rift‑gates. Now that legacy was in tatters.
I burned on my shoulder where a wyvern's claw had brushed me. Lirael backtracked a little, putting a hand against the opening. "That's deep."
I shook it off. "I can still fight."
She met my eyes. "You should have told me."
I frowned. "I didn't want you yanking me back again."
Her expression softened, just a bit. "Then let me."
We appeared in Level Three: a corridor devoid of glass, the Citadel's core visible in the main: a gigantic crystal heart pulsing with mana. The shield generators we'd breezed past used the heart as an energy source.
At the far end of the hallway, a sturdy door sported the crest of the council. A biometric lock lit up red: ACCESS DENIED.
Lirael produced a data cylinder. "Override code. Plug this into the panel."
She slammed it into an opening; the panel flickered to life. Alarms screamed. A robotic voice intoned: "INTRUDER ALERT. RESTRICTED AREA."
The door hissed. It opened inward, revealing the control interior: holo‑screens, archaic conduits, and a central console floating above the heart of crystal. Technicians--* frightful shells drained of feeling --scuttled to switch the shielding back on.
I clenched my fists. "We need to stop them."
Lirael sprang foward, her fingers dancing over the runes on her gauntlet. "I'm shutting them down!"
She beat me to the console and her face screwed up in horror. "It's locked!"
A figure in steel stepped out of the shadow—tall, regal in his bearing, with the emblem of a king. Lord Varion, High Chancellor of Elyndros, his face white hung from his helm. "Now get away from the console," he ordered in a steely voice.
Lirael raised her chin. "We can't leave the shield up. If it doesn't fall, the wardens will not get to the siege engines."
Varion's eyes flared with anger. "You will doom us all if you cause a core overload."
I stood next to Lirael, plasma blade buzzing. "Then let me decide."
He sneered. "You're a… creature."
It was a harsh word — the indictment of a monster. The fire ignited behind my shoulder blades. "You think I'm an abomination? Look around. We've lost half the vault. "While the Citadel stands, we have a chance."
He unsheathed a thin blade inscribed with shimmering runes. "Then you'll drop dead on the spot."
Lirael's gauntlet flared violet. "No!"
There was a clash: I leapt at Varion as Lirael attacked the swirling runes of the console. Their swords clanged off of my blade—steel on plasma creating a spray of sparks. Varion pressed me back. I tripped over my boots, sliding on the polished floor.
Lirael muttered an incantation. The console flickered. SHIELD GENERATOR – STANDBY emblazoned across it in red.
' " snarled Varion and swung a backstroke at Lirael. I parried his sword away and stepped between them. I brought my knife in close to his throat. Warm Emberheart covered the floor.
"Stop them," I growled.
Lirael hacked at the main conduit of the console. Violet force erupted through the etheric matrix. A loud whine rose and intensified until it shattered the silence.
Outside, I heard the Citadel's engines stutter—power cores cracking. The shield blinked, and it collapsed, falling away in shards of light.
With a mighty roar the fortress shook as Voidspawn mounted the ramparts shouting in triumph and throwing themselves at us. Shield Wardens echoed, rallied underneath Commander Sylene.
I spun round to face the control room. Varion fell back against the console, dazed. Lirael cried out, dropping to her knees.
I went to one knee beside her. "You did it."
She coughed, her mouth leaking blood, shimmering droplets. "We did it."
A tremor shook the floor. Warning lights flashed. The crystal heart of the core stopped throbbing so rhythmically. Now it spasmed even more, now that its burden, the shield's sudden disintegration, strained it.
A crack zigzagged down its center. The doors of the chamber flew open as Voidspawn knights stormed in, weapons raised, their shadow‑horns aglint.
I rose, plasma blade igniting. "To arms!"
Lirael's hand found mine. She squeezed. "This ends now."
Outside, the Sky Citadel pitched, engines stuttering. It tilted dangerously, with one wing brushing the vault's west wall.
There was a last burst of detonation. The engines of the Citadel exploded, tearing away huge chunks of the hull. Debris fell on the vault's courtyard, and refugees ducked for cover as it rained down.
I half fell to the shattered windowsill as a great piece of the hull broke away--a sharp piece of the Citadel's central reactor core. It swooped, shadow and flame, towards us.
"No!" Lirael screamed.
Time slowed. I leapt at her, and the plasma blade growled. The fragment exploded through the window behind us in a churning of glass and stone.
Shrapnel rained down.
I felt a searing bolt of pain flash into my side—blood staining my armor. "NO!" Lirael screamed, hurled against the broken console. I focused in on her frightened eyes.
And then the hull fragment slammed into the floor where we were—crumpled ruin of crystal and obsidian dotted with dust and wreckage. The blast shattered the control room walls.
My ears roared. And shielded Lirael with my body as darkness took each of us, one by one.