A wolf-like beast with bony spikes protruding out of its back leapt over the fire, immediately charging toward us. As it ran, the beast’s claws ripped up dirt and rocks. Frothy foam dripped from the creature's jaw and its tongue hung out the side of its mouth. The beast looked crazed and hungry, completely unlike the calm creatures I saw with Zidg.

Raising my hand, I shouted, “Air bullet.” Mana rushed from my core while cooling my mana veins. A blast of condensed air shot from my finger tip and raced toward the creature. The bullet spun rapidly with cutting winds surrounding it. The beast leapt aside, dodging the blast and continuing forward without slowing.

At my command, a spike of earth rose up from beneath the beast, but I only managed to pierce the creature’s leg. The creature whimpered as it jerked to a halt. Its impaled leg pulled unnaturally back, leaving skin sagging around its joint. It was probably dislocated, but the beast was not dead and despite its injured leg, the creature kept howling and trying to pull itself free.

A shril hiss drew my attention back to the wall of fire. A humanoid creature with skin charred black, shuffled quickly like a zombie as it stumbled through the fire. Following closely behind it were two more almost identical beasts, each hissing and flailing their arms madly. None of them appeared to be bothered by their flesh burning. Blades of fire shot from their flailing arms, hurtling toward Lumia and I. One after another six, then twelve, then eighteen flame blades ripped across the field.

The blades sliced through the wolf without losing any momentum, leaving behind only a few lumps of charred meat.

Lumia slumped forward in the grass, staring at the ground as if nothing in the whole world mattered anymore. With her gaze cast down, she appeared completely unaware of the approaching beasts.

“Lumia!” I called again, but she didn’t respond.

I could have dodged easily, but then she would be hit. Instead I summoned a rock wall then another and another for good measure. Sprinting around the walls, I aimed and fired two Ice spikes from my palm. Each hit a dreadling right between the eyes, passing clear through their heads, but neither creature fell.

Racing around the flame wall, a nightmare, a solid black horse with blood red eyes, appeared at the left edge of my vision. At the same time, all three dreadlings shifted their focus to follow me. The creatures seemed to possess only basic intelligence, a fact I was grateful for as it would be easier to fight without having to worry about Lumia.

Ignoring the nightmare for now, I flung a series of wind blades in quick succession toward the dreadlings. Like a tornado, the blades carved through everything in front of me. The dreadlings, ripped limb from limb, fell in mangled heaps, no longer resembling anything living.

Something struck my left shoulder with disorienting force. The world tumbled around me as I spun twice, then smashed into the ground. My body ached, and a sharp pain pierced my shoulder. Unable to use my left arm and plagued by electrifying pain when I tried, I struggled to roll over.

My arm was on fire and if it wasn’t broken, it was definitely dislocated. Clamping my jaw, I bit through the pain and myself onto my back. Seeing a pair of hooves above my head, I rolled again. One of the nightmare’s hooves grazed my cheek, leaving me with a jagged cut, then they pounded into the earth.

The ground shook as she stamped her feet again. Rearing up, she screamed into the air; then drove her hooves towards me. The horse was relentless and my left arm was screaming with pain. I couldn’t bear to roll again, even if I did, this would only continue.

Thinking quickly, I raised my right hand, drawing mana from my core to form a thick earthen spear. From out of the ground, a three pronged spear rose up toward the mare’s chest. Its contours were jagged and rough like the serrated edge of a blade and each of its three points were sharp.

When the horse came down, she fell on the spear. It held, but her weight forced her down until the prongs were fully buried in her flesh and her hooves dangled just over my face.

She whined and whimpered as blood flowed from her breast, coating the spear in glistening crimson. Her hooves kicked above my head, unable to touch the ground.

I slid from under her then got to my feet. The horse was twisting and pushing, pulling and turning, thrashing about trying to get free. For all her struggling, she only pushed the spear deeper.

I looked at her with pity. Drawing my sword from storage, I sliced off her head in one clean blow. The trashing stopped, her hooves left blowing in the breeze.

Looking away from the horse, I scanned for more beasts; then seeing none, I returned to Lumia.

“Are you okay, Lu?”

She looked at me wild-eyed, her eyes still wet with tears. Her lips pulled apart, but she didn’t speak. The orange glow faded from her eyes as my wall of fire died out. Something dark reflected in her pupils, alerting me to duck down just as a black crescent passed over us.

More cursed beasts rushed from the dark lands. Three craven claws tore across scorched grass, snapping at each other as they ran. A large flying beast with bladed wings and a bat-like appearance, swooped down from a twisted tree and unleashed a powerful screech that sliced through the air.

The world went silent. The dog-like beast’s stopped in their tracks, dropped to the ground and crawled backward, away from the flying creature.

Black roots sprang up from the ground, wrapping around the beasts tightly. My ears were still recovering from the deafening screech, but I felt each crunch as the craven claws were bent and broken like rag dolls in the coiled roots.

The fury wing flew in a circle observing the beasts as they were crushed. Then it took to the sky and disappeared in the sun.

A nicker in the distance signified that my hearing had returned; followed by a chorus of shrill war-screams, it also heralded the arrival of four spectral knights. They charged side by side through the dark wood, cutting down any obstacles in their path.

The pounding of hooves on dirt was like a drum warning of death’s impending approach.

Shaking off the fear, I shook Lumia fiercely while shouting in her face, “Lumia, we have to move!” I put as much urgency in my words as possible and hoped she’d respond. “Whatever happened with Zidg, we can—”

Lumia transformed and I was pushed back by her magic, tripped over my feet and fell on my butt.

Grabbing me in her jaws, Lumia flung me onto her back.

Waves of black energy launched across the field like crescent shaped blades dividing everything they touched. I nearly fell from Lumia’s back as she leapt, dove and weaved to avoid them. With adrenaline and mana coursing through my body, I grabbed hold of one of her back spikes and used it to pull myself into a proper riding position. As soon as I was adjusted, Lumia spread her wings and took flight.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

The knights unleashed a barrage of dark slashes to stop her taking off, but Lumia was quick and nimble. I clung to her neck as she pulled in her legs and straightened her body to be like an arrow. She soared under two of the dark crescents then swooped right to avoid a third.

Banking around a tower, she used the cover to gain altitude then dove under a black moon slash to finally break free. Picking up speed and altitude, she raced beyond the reach of the nights.

Soaring high we headed back west. The fury wing from earlier dove toward us, slashing at Lumia with its bladed wings.

Lumia quickly tucked her wigs in, letting herself drop to avoid the attack. Then she spread them wide again and continued on.

As if spawning out of the clouds, a swarm of the beasts appeared, but none could match Lumia’s speed. We soon left them behind along with the towers of Selvaris.

Gradually our speed slowed as we soared above the plains which seemed to stretch on endlessly. As adrenaline faded and my mind settled from the fight, I realized we didn’t have a destination. I also still didn’t know what had Lumia so frazzled.

“Lu…”

“We’re going to Sunder.” She answered as if she already knew what I wanted to ask. “I need to know if what that dwarf said is true.”

I wasn’t sure if our bond was deepening or if we were just growing closer, but an image of Lila locked in a dark space flashed in my mind. I couldn’t be sure of what it meant, but the way Lumia spoke made me anxious.

“What did he say—and what does it have to do with Sunder?”

There was a brief moment of silence before she answered. “If it’s true, you’ll know when we get there.”

I probed a few more times on the way, but Lumia wouldn’t say more.

----------------------------------------

Lumia pushed herself, flying low and fast as she could until the smell of salt carried on the wind. Her anxiety was building, spilling into me and filling my body with trepidation.

As we neared the city, she slowed her pace until she was hovering in place.

White stone towers, carved with dragons, were visible just over the mountain ahead of us.

Along the way, boats sailed up and down the rivers. The sky was clear. Gulls circled in the distance, repeatedly diving toward the ocean. The city was noisy with shouting and a ruckus of metallic clangs and dull banging; there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary.

Still, Lumia hesitated to go further.

“What are you afraid of?” I asked.

She didn’t answer. Instead her wings flapped madly as she bolted over the last mountain between us and Sunder.

It was immediately evident that something was wrong. The noises I had assumed to be from the harbor came instead from construction efforts.

Thirty or so people worked to restore a collapsed bridge that connected the church with the rest of the city. Multiple buildings had been scorched and burned. Some of the towers around the church were crushed with piles of debris littered around what little remained. Several walkways were now ruined with small craters and cracks ran throughout the stone paths.

Despite the damage, the city was still mostly okay. The destruction was only in the area near the church.

Lumia landed near the temple entrance, atop a pile of rubble. Light bearers and some townsfolk were working to clear a path into the church, but thanks to Lumia, we didn’t have to wait for them.

I jumped down from her back as she settled on the crumbled stone. In the same breath, Lumia jumped forward, over a mage who was levitating stones one by one onto a cart for transport. She transformed as she landed and rushed into the church.

“Lumia.” I called as I hurried after her. “Lumia!”

Inside, the church was in a state of panic. Light bearers stood near the dragon carved podium shouting over each other. The priestess we’d met before appeared to be trying to calm the holy knights, but her gentle voice was lost in the uproar.

One of the knights broke from the group, storming past Lumia, then past me as well.

“Get back here, Gladys! What will you accomplish if you go after them now?”

I recognized that voice, it was lady Amara.

The furious knight didn’t stop as she answered, “More than you will by standing here arguing.”

Another voice, a male knight, spoke up next. “If it was one or two cursed mages then we would have a chance, but against their numbers… and they have a dragon; Gladys you’ll die. That’s all—and anyone who follows you as well.”

The knight, Gladys, continued on to the door. Swinging the door open then letting it slam shut with a wall shaking bang.

From the brief encounter, I could guess my uncle's forces must’ve attacked, but I still didn’t understand why everyone was so upset. The damage seemed minor. I hadn’t noticed a single corpse. The light bearers must’ve suffered some kind of loss, but by all appearances it was only a blow to their pride.

Lumia reached the group of knights but continued past them, jumping onto the stage she forced her way past several more light bearers and attendants.

They tried to stop her entering a door at the back of the building, but even with five of them working in concert to halt her advance, Lumia plowed forward.

I raced to catch up, ignoring an icy glare from Amara as I passed her.

The door flung open and Lumia stopped abruptly.

Those around sighed nervously and fell away, clearing a path for me to reach her side. The room contained nothing of particular interest. It was someone’s bedroom, although it hardly looked used. The sheets weren’t even ruffled.

Lumia spun around, tears pouring from her eyes, as she whispered. “Where is Lila?”

The image of her sister, alone in darkness, returned to my mind and I understood what was wrong.

Mana stirred wildly in the room, like in the hostile mana zone of the proving. Everyone went still, focusing on Lumia. “Where is my sister?” Lumia asked again, this time shouting.

Lady Amara stepped forward, a solemn look on her face. “A few hours after you left, the mages you warned us about…they came. If it was just cursed mages we could’ve handled things easily, but the dragon they brought…” Amara shook her head. “…he would’ve destroyed the whole city if Lila had not agreed to—”

The room went quiet as breathing became difficult. It felt as if all the oxygen was being sucked away from my lungs, like I was competing with a giant in a hopeless struggle for air.

Lumia’s red eyes glowed like hot coals as she stepped toward the group of light bearers.

“Your duty was to die for her, not let her sacrifice herself protecting you! You cowards don’t deserve to be called light bearers." Loathing burned in her every word.

Turning away, Lumia shut herself inside the empty room.

Amara, gasping for breath, spoke softly, “We tried…but this…was her decision.”

Finally, I had a full picture of what plagued my bond, and yet, I was powerless to help or do anything about it.

I had an idea how to fight against the cursed mages. If all of them could regrow heads like Sizal, then destroying their core was probably the best way to kill them. Without magic they shouldn’t be able to regrow anything. In a one on one duel, destroying a core might be possible, but against large numbers or on a battlefield where large scale magic might also injure allies, it would prove difficult.

Even if I could fight them all one on one, I wouldn’t survive long. If Sizal had taken Lumia and I seriously, then I doubt she would have managed to injure him at all. He seemed more than capable of taking us both on himself.

“Silvon.”

Amara’s voice drew me from my thoughts.

“Yes,” I answered, half expecting her to threaten me off.

“Did you meet Zidg?” She asked, her eyes flickering with curiosity.

I nodded. Then nodded again when I remembered what he told me. “The artifact—he said it’s what you thought and that you should send ‘him’ to the cradle before he destroys Sunder. I’m not sure what that means, but I hope it makes sense to you.”

She frowned. “It does, but I have a different idea about where to send ‘him.’ I’ll need you to convince Lumia to help though.”

“Help how, exactly?”

“I have a plan to get Lila back, but I’ll need both you and Lumia to help.”