The gate groaned louder, metal grinding against stone, and then it split open like a wound. Black mist exploded outward, slick, seething and alive.
"Back!" Kael shouted, but Seris was already moving.
She darted forward, the edge of her cloak catching fire as the golden light around her surged. Her hands flared, not with the fire she used to wield, but with something deeper, an ancient radiance threaded with shadow.
The darkness responded.
Figures burst from the fog, twisted things with limbs too long, faces like shattered masks. They screamed, bone-chilling and feral.
Kael charged after her, blade drawn, eyes locked on her silhouette as it danced through the mist. She was pure motion, each step a blur and each strike precise. Flame licked her fingertips as she reached the first creature, slamming her palm into its chest.
It burst into ash mid-snarl.
Kael met the next with steel. His sword hissed through black flesh, the resistance like cutting through wet cloth. "Left!"
Seris spun, caught the warning, and ducked. A claw passed over her head. She surged upward and drove her hand beneath the creature's ribs. It screamed. She didn't flinch.
Aeren vaulted over a slab of stone, two daggers spinning into his palms. "These things just keep coming!" he barked, slashing across one's face.
"Then keep cutting!" Kael yelled.
Lorent stood near the edge, cloak swirling, chanting low and fast in an ancient tongue. Sigils flared beneath his feet, and suddenly the ground buckled. A wave of force exploded outward, slamming into a cluster of beasts and sending them scattering like dry leaves.
"Don't let them reach the gate!" Lorent shouted. "If they breach..."
"They won't," Seris cut in, her voice low and crackling with fury. She dove into the fray again, eyes blazing. Each movement was elegant destruction.
A creature leapt toward her from above, shrieking. Kael's sword flashed in an arc, intercepting it mid-air. Black ichor sprayed across his armor, smoking where it landed.
"You're bleeding," Seris said, chest heaving as they stood back-to-back.
"Not enough to stop." Kael's mouth twisted into a grin. "You look different."
"Good different?" She elbowed a snarling beast out of her path, incinerating it with a flick of her hand.
"Hot different."
She snorted, then screamed in fury, as she drove both hands into the ground. Flame burst outward in concentric rings. The creatures caught within it howled as their forms dissolved into embers.
The smoke thickened. More creatures were pouring through the rift. Aeren cursed as one clawed at his arm, only for Seris to blast it aside with a spear of light.
"They're not stopping!" Aeren yelled, gritting his teeth. "We need to shut the damn gate!"
"I can hold them," Seris shouted. "Just do it!"
Kael didn't argue. He surged toward the gate's base, slashing through a beast with a grunt. Lorent followed, blood on his lip, a scroll clutched in one hand. "Cover me!"
Kael did. Blade spinning, slicing, blocking. One creature latched onto his arm and he drove a dagger up into its throat, snarling in effort.
Behind him, Lorent slammed the scroll against the stone. Runes bled outward, glowing red-hot. "NOW!"
"Seris!" Kael called. "Pull back!"
But she wasn't listening.
She was surrounded now, flame swirling like a storm around her, and yet they kept coming. Her hair whipped in the chaos, eyes burning gold. She raised both hands, and the ground erupted. Fire, shadow, and something older than both poured out of her in a blinding pulse.
Everything went white, then black and then still.
The air crackled with the remnants of the flames that had consumed the darkness. It was quieter now, but the silence was thick, like something was waiting just beyond the edge of the world.
Kael's fingers were trembling as they brushed the hair from Seris's face, his eyes never leaving her. "Seris?" His voice was rough, his words almost a plea.
She stirred, eyelids fluttering open. Her golden eyes were distant, as if struggling to find their bearings. "Kael…" she whispered, voice hoarse, and her breath came in short bursts. "What happened?"
"You saved us," he said, his gaze softening as he gently cupped her face. "You stopped it, you stopped it from taking all of us."
She blinked, confusion clouding her expression. "But I… I..."
"It's over now," Kael cut in, his voice steady, yet there was an edge to it, a quiet urgency. "You're still here, you're still you."
Her fingers trembled as they reached up, touching his jaw, her eyes searching his. "I almost didn't…"
He grabbed her wrist, his grip firm but not painful. "Don't say it. We're not doing this right now."
Seris winced, her gaze dropping as she pulled her hand back slowly. She wasn't ready to talk about what had almost taken hold of her.
The sound of footsteps approaching pulled Kael's attention away from her. Aeren and Lorent emerged from the shadows, both looking grim, their eyes scanning the aftermath.
Aeren's voice cut through the tension. "Is she okay?" His eyes flickered from Seris to Kael.
Kael didn't look away from Seris, his voice low but firm. "She will be."
Lorent didn't speak, but his gaze was just as calculating as ever. "The gate's sealed. For now," he said, his tone leaving no room for debate.
Seris struggled to sit up, but her body was weak, her limbs still heavy with exhaustion. Kael immediately helped her, his movements careful, as though the slightest misstep might send her into another spiral.
"Stay down," Kael ordered softly, keeping his hand pressed against her shoulder, steadying her.
She met his gaze, her eyes sharp despite the faint tremble in her voice. "I'm fine."
"You're not," Kael shot back, his voice almost fierce. "You just..."
"I said I'm fine," she repeated, a little more forcefully, her jaw tightening as she sat back against the cold stone.
Aeren raised an eyebrow, clearly noting the tension. "We need to move. Whatever that thing was, it won't stay dead long and it wasn't alone."
Seris's gaze hardened, her hands now resting on her knees. "We don't run," she said, her tone steely, but Kael saw the flicker of doubt behind her eyes.
"I'm not suggesting we run," Aeren replied, his voice clipped. "But we need a plan. If there's more of those things..."
"We deal with them," Kael interrupted, his eyes narrowing. "We don't back down. Not now."
Seris glanced up at him, her gaze softening. "Kael…"
"Not now," he repeated, his voice low and intense, though there was a tenderness beneath it, one that he only showed when it was just the two of them.
"You're still you," he said again, this time more softly, his gaze softening as he leaned in, brushing a thumb over her cheek. "You saved us but you're not doing this alone."
Seris didn't reply right away, her eyes flickering over his face as if searching for something in him. "You think I'm not scared?"
Kael swallowed, his throat tight. "I know you're scared but you don't have to carry it alone."
Aeren, seeing the moment between them, shifted uncomfortably, his voice breaking through the quiet. "This isn't the time for feelings," he said bluntly, though his tone held no malice. "We're still a long way from being out of danger."
Kael's gaze flicked over to him, his expression hardening. "You always know how to kill the mood, don't you?"
Aeren didn't flinch. "Someone has to keep their head straight."
Lorent stepped forward, his eyes sharp as always. "Aeren's right, as much as we'd all like to pretend this is over, it's not, there's a bigger force at work here. And that thing… it's not just a random creature."
Seris lifted her chin, her resolve returning in small but visible waves. "Then we find out what it is. We don't wait around to be picked off one by one."
Kael studied her for a long moment, the fire in her eyes matching his own. "I'm with you, always."
"Good," she replied, her voice steadying as she pushed herself up. "Let's go."
The tension didn't leave the air, but for the first time since the chaos had started, there was a sense of purpose settling over them. They were a unit and they would face whatever came next together.