“But only he who, himself enlightened, is not afraid of shadows.”

― Immanuel Kant, An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?

Vibrations surged down the length of his arm. Excalibur resonated, a keen chime of bells, driven from his sword and deep into his bones. Brull frowned as he drew further power from Avalon. The unholy light resisted… a soup of belligerent force that squirmed at the edge of his power.

“So… can you push back this glow, or do we need to step back?” Lyra trailed her claws through the tainted air beyond Excalibur’s reach. The unholy power sizzled at her skin, consumed by Fenrir before it could do any real damage. “This stuff isn’t tasty at all…”

“Speak for yourself,” Lucifer bathed in the light of the core, one eye focused on the silent gate and its semi-transparent veil. “If we didn’t have to worry about the monster beyond the curtain, I’d spend all my days in this place…”

“It does have a certain appeal,” Cain had stepped closer to the sinister curtain than the rest, seated cross-legged on the ground. The unholy radiation seeped into his pores, a revitalising force that shaved several years off his already youthful appearance. “I can’t detect any creature beyond the gateway… perhaps it’s moved on to somewhere else and left this gate?”

“It’s still there, watching…” Lucifer moved to Cain’s side and joined the man on the stone floor. “I don’t think it likes that sword of yours, Brull.”

“That was the whole point,” Brull snorted and called more power from his connection to Avalon, a wash of gold that tempered the unnatural white of the core. “But I’m not sure how long I can keep this up… whatever it is that’s generating this light, it’s matching me as I try to purify it away.”

“I doubt you’ll be able to cleanse this place,” Lucifer shook his head and motioned for the two Beastfolk to take a seat beside him and Cain. “The goal is to shrink this unholy energy field to a few metres from the gate and stop the thing inside from touching our minds.”

“Well, it’s heavy… I can move it, but I won’t be able to hold it very long,” Brull rolled his shoulders and placed both hands on his sword. Excalibur keened out, a flash of swordlight that hammered back the unholy light. “We can maybe use runes to hold it in place, but they would have to be powerful…”

“I can hold it, if you can gather it all into a small enough space,” Lyra flexed her hands as the shadow of her inner wolf pressed against her skin. “It might not taste great, but food is food!”

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Brull snorted and gave another swing, a wave of gold that constricted the white. He marched forward, Lyra ready at his back, until they stood scant metres from the veiled frame. A huff of air, followed by a casual spin of his hands, drove Excalabur into the ground. Hands on the hilt, he knelt like a man in prayer, while waves of golden force encased the mysterious doorway.

“Now or never…” Brull forced the words from his lips, face drawn into sharp lines. The effort had tapped at his current limits, any more and permanent damage would be done to his body.

“Let’s get to work, Fen,” Lyra’s mouth opened, wider than was physically possible. A maccabe grin split from ear to ear, she inhaled a breath that had no end. Light and matter tipped toward her, concentrated into a single point.

Brull released his hold and lept back, outside the wolf-kin’s range. Gold vanished, replaced by a twist in space that captured the tainted light wrapped within. Lyra spread her arms and feasted, while Lucifer and Cain edged closer and braved the storm.

“That curtain hasn’t even twitched,” Cain gestured with his knife. The transparent veil laid flat, undisturbed by Lyra and Brull’s efforts. “Are you sure it was moving when you first came to this place?”

“Of course I’m certain…” Lucifer scoffed as he took another step, now within a single metre of the unholy gateway. “Perhaps the being on the other side is simply wary, with the four of us gathered together…”

A stiff wind stole the rest of Lucifer’s words, driven from beyond the threshold of the door. It froze the Devil in place, Cain at his side, and slapped at Lyra’s maw. Unopposable force slammed her mouth shut and rolled her eyes backward into her skull.

“LYRA!!!” Brull’s skin radiated gold, the light of a new dawn that shaped itself into a polished suit of armour. Sword raised against the ominous wind, he placed himself between his friends and the door. “Get back, take her outside this things range!”

Cain shook himself, one hand extended to yank the Devil back from the windswept veil. The other shoved his knife into his belt and snatched up Lyra’s unconscious form. He tossed them into the safezone, where Hive waited to assist, and turned back to Brull.

Excalibur’s light shifted from gold to the purest white as the cat-kin stepped forward, unfazed by the terrible winds. Brull led with the point of his sword, one pace at a time, until the blade almost touched the end of the weather swept curtain.

“No darkness, nor evil, can harm me, nor can your foul thoughts touch my mind,” Brull flicked his wrists and a thin line of white clashed with the cold rush of air. Distant bells chimed out, one for every world touched by Avalon’s light. “Whatever you are, stay quiet in the dark, lest I show you a taste of my true power!”

Space cracked, sheared apart by his strike. The wind halted its flow, drawn into the void between places and lost to time. Wrapped in his armour, Brull pushed through the broken space and released a second slash. A dense spike of white, aimed into the emptiness beyond the veil.

“You hold a powerful relic… foul and holy, but strong…” An amused voice leaked from the surroundings, directionless and oppressive. “But you are too weak to use it… a second of its true might would burn you to ashes and leave me with barely a scratch.”

An indistinct figure hovered behind the agitated curtain, just past the threshold of the door. It held his last attack with a single hand, fingers pressed tight around the sharp edged light. A flex shattered what remained to stardust, bright spots that disappeared on the wind.

“How much of yourself will you give to that weapon… before it burns you out like all the others…”