The ground beneath Ellie’s feet trembled, sending small stones skittering over the edge of the chasm into the dark void below. The wind had risen to a howl, carrying with it the guttural chants of ancient power that echoed up from the depths, each word thrumming with the weight of centuries. The air was thick with the stench of sulfur and decay.
Around her, the mages fought to hold the lines, their spells flickering like fragile lights against the abyss. Waves of dark magic rolled up from the depths, and the ground cracked and groaned under the strain. Ellie could feel it—a presence, vast and malevolent, stirring from beneath the seals that had kept it imprisoned for so long.
Master Kolvin, his staff raised high, barked orders to the others, his voice hoarse but unwavering. "Hold fast! Do not let the barrier fall!"
The mages formed a circle around the edge of the Abyss, their hands glowing with the effort of keeping the protective wards in place. Magic sparked and fizzled in the air, but Ellie could see the strain in their faces. Their power was waning, and the devil king’s dark influence was growing with every passing moment. They couldn’t hold him back forever.
Ellie stood at the center of it all, the relic clutched tightly in her hands, her heart pounding in her chest. She could feel the weight of the ancient artifact against her skin, its magic pulsing in time with the beating of her heart.
The relic was warm now, almost too hot to hold, but she didn’t know what to do with it—how to use it. The mages were counting on her, but her mind was blank with fear.
Behind her, Kolvin called out, his voice tinged with desperation. "Ellie! The relic—use it! Now is the time!"
Ellie swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around the smooth, glowing surface of the relic. Use it. But how? The relic throbbed against her palm, alive with energy, but she had no idea how to wield such power. She was no mage. She hadn’t trained for this. And yet, here she was, standing on the precipice of a nightmare, with the fate of the kingdom in her hands.
The red light from the Abyss flared brighter, and a sound—deep and guttural, like the roar of something ancient and terrible—rose from the depths. The ground shuddered violently, and cracks split open beneath their feet. Ellie gasped, stumbling back as the devil king’s prison began to unravel before her eyes.
A low, terrible voice rumbled from the chasm, filling the air with malice. "You cannot stop what has been set in motion. I will rise again, and all will fall before me."
Ellie’s breath caught in her throat, the weight of those words settling over her like a suffocating shroud. She looked down at the relic, its light growing brighter, flickering as if in response to the devil’s voice. The runes carved into its surface began to glow, faint at first, then brighter, until they pulsed like a heartbeat.
The relic was reacting to the magic in the air, to the devil’s presence—but it wasn’t responding to her. Not yet.
The mages around her were faltering. A few had fallen to their knees, their energy spent, their spells weakening. Kolvin’s face was pale, sweat beading on his brow as he struggled to keep the barrier intact. But it was failing.
They all knew it. The devil king would break free, and there would be nothing left to stop him.
I can’t do this, Ellie thought, panic rising in her chest. I don’t know what to do.
But then, from deep within her, a quiet voice—one she hadn’t expected—rose up. A memory, distant but sharp, of her mother’s voice by the hearth, speaking of magic not as something to be commanded, but as something to be listened to.
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"Magic is alive, Ellie. It has a will of its own. You can’t force it—just listen. Let it guide you."
Ellie closed her eyes, her breath trembling. She didn’t know how to wield magic. But maybe she didn’t have to. Maybe the relic wasn’t something to control. Maybe it was something to trust.
She took a deep breath, her fingers loosening slightly around the relic. She stopped trying to grasp for answers, stopped trying to force it. Instead, she let herself feel it—the magic, the power coursing through the air, the hum of the ancient artifact that seemed to resonate with her very heartbeat. She listened.
And then, without warning, the relic reacted.
A shockwave of energy erupted from the crystal, shooting through Ellie’s body and outward into the air. She gasped, her eyes flying open as the magic surged through her like a river of fire, pouring from her hands and into the world around her.
The ground beneath her feet glowed with an ancient light, and the cracks in the earth began to seal, the devil’s roaring voice faltering as the energy pushed him back.
The mages around her stumbled, their eyes wide with shock, but Ellie could barely see them. The relic’s power consumed her, flooding her senses with a force so old, so vast, that she couldn’t tell where it ended and she began. It was as if the relic had been waiting for her, choosing her.
And now, as its magic poured through her, she realized something that chilled her to her core.
The relic was not just a weapon—it was a conduit. And it had chosen her, not as a wielder, but as a vessel.
The devil king’s voice echoed from the Abyss, furious now. "You cannot stop me, girl! The seals are broken! The ritual cannot be undone!"
But the relic pulsed again, its light growing brighter, and Ellie could feel it pushing back against the darkness, disrupting the ritual, severing the threads of magic that held the devil king’s prison in place. She didn’t understand how—it was as if the relic was acting of its own accord, using her as its anchor in the physical world.
Kolvin, struggling to his feet, stared at Ellie with wide eyes. "By the gods," he whispered. "She’s channeling Merdhyn’s power."
The words barely registered in Ellie’s mind, but she could feel their weight. Merdhyn. The ancient archmage who had sealed away the devil king centuries ago. The one whose power had been lost to time—until now.
The other mages stared at her, their faces filled with awe and disbelief. They had thought the relic was a key, a tool to stop the ritual. But now they realized it was far more than that. The relic wasn’t just powerful—it was alive, infused with Merdhyn’s essence. And it had chosen Ellie to wield that power.
The devil king roared again, his voice filled with rage and fear, but it was weaker now, more distant. The energy surging from the relic was pushing him back, sealing the cracks, disrupting the dark magic that had been unraveling the seals.
Ellie felt the relic’s power surge again, stronger this time, and the light flared so brightly that it blinded her. She could hear the mages shouting, feel the earth trembling beneath her feet, but it was all distant, as though she were floating outside of her own body.
And then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
The light faded, and the air grew still. Ellie stumbled, her knees buckling beneath her as the relic’s magic finally released her. She collapsed to the ground, her breath coming in ragged gasps, the world spinning around her. The relic, now cool in her hand, lay quiet and still.
The Abyss was silent. The red light had disappeared, and the air no longer thrummed with the presence of the devil king.
Master Kolvin rushed to her side, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Ellie... you... you’ve stopped it. You’ve stopped the devil king."
Ellie blinked up at him, her body trembling from exhaustion. She hadn’t stopped anything. The relic had done it, not her. She had just been a conduit, a vessel for its power. But Kolvin’s words echoed in her ears, and she could see the awe in his face, the gratitude in the eyes of the comrades who now gathered around her.
Ellie managed a weak smile in return, but a shadow of unease settled over her heart. Achron was still out there, lurking in the shadows. What if the devil king's revival had merely been a distraction? What if Achron was plotting something even more terrible, orchestrating chaos while they focused on the immediate threat?
She could only hope it wouldn’t be her problem to solve.