The Court doesn't hesitate. Jean raises her hand, and an arc of white energy streaks toward us. Kylen's ward flares brighter as he intercepts it, gritting his teeth against the impact.

Alyse retaliates immediately, hurling a bolt of lightning that cracks through the air like a whip, striking Jackson and forcing him to retreat. I swing the DragonsBreath, a wall of fire erupting to separate us from the vortex where Keegan works frantically.

"Buy me time!" Keegan shouts, his voice tight with concentration as void energy swirls around him.

"We're trying!" Dylan snaps, launching a gravitational pulse that sends Jamie stumbling.

Jennifer rushes forward, her movements a blur, and I barely manage to block her strike with the DragonsBreath. Sparks fly as her blade clashes against mine, her strength pushing me back.

"Do you really think you can defy us?" she snarls. "The Court's justice is absolute!"

"Justice?!" I bark, flames surging along the length of my blade. "You don't know the meaning of the word!"

I force her back with a fiery swing, just as Hail slams into Jamie with his ice sword, freezing the ground beneath them in a slick sheet. Jamie slips but quickly recovers, hurling a shard of energy that narrowly misses Alyse.

Claire joins the fray, her poison lashing out like tendrils, forcing Jackson and Jamie to dodge and regroup. "They're just stalling us!" Jackson yells, frustration evident.

Jean raises both hands, her voice echoing with a chilling authority. "Enough of this!" She slams her palms together, creating a shockwave of energy that sends all of us flying.

I hit the ground hard, the DragonsBreath skidding out of my grasp. My vision blurs, and I see Alyse collapse to her knees, blood dripping from a gash on her forehead. Dylan groans as he struggles to rise, his gravity field flickering weakly.

Kylen's ward finally shatters, and he collapses beside me, his breathing ragged. Hail tries to stand, only for a blast from Jamie to knock him unconscious. Claire lies motionless, her poison dissipating into the air.

"No!" I shout, crawling toward the DragonsBreath as Jean strides forward, her eyes blazing with triumph.

Keegan is still at the vortex, his hands trembling as he struggles to stabilize the energy. "Red, I need a little more time!"

"We don't have time!" I shout back, grabbing the hilt of my sword and forcing myself to my feet.

Jean raises her hand, preparing a final strike. "This ends now."

Just as her attack launches, the brace around my ankle flares to life. A molten glow surges from it, coursing up my body in a swirl of liquid metal.

The Madium flows over me, solidifying into a suit of armor that gleams with an otherworldly light. The weight of it is immense, yet it feels like an extension of myself. Flames roar to life around me, brighter and hotter than ever before.

Jean's attack slams into me, but the armor absorbs it, the energy dissipating harmlessly. I take a step forward, the ground cracking beneath me from the force of my movement.

"Your mistake was thinking we'd let you decide our fate," I growl, my voice reverberating with the power of the armor.

Jean's confidence falters, her expression twisting into one of shock. "Impossible..."

I raise the DragonsBreath, the blade igniting in a torrent of fire. "You wanted a fight? You've got one."

I charge, the flames and the armor becoming one as I leap into battle, determined to end this once and for all.

Jean recovers quickly, hurling a blast of energy that collides with me. The force shakes the ground, but the Madium armor holds firm. I lunge forward, driving the DragonsBreath toward her. She narrowly sidesteps, the blade searing through her robe and leaving a glowing scorch mark across her arm.

Jackson and Jennifer flank me, their combined strikes forcing me back. Kylen, despite his injuries, rises and hurls his plasma ward like a spear. It pierces through Jackson's defenses, sending him staggering into Jennifer. Both of them recover, but their movements are slower, their confidence shaken.

Alyse's lightning arcs across the room, crackling with fury as it slams into Jamie, sending her sprawling. Claire follows up, her poison lashing out like vines, coiling around Jamie's arms and legs. She tears free, but her movements are sluggish, her form flickering with faint green veins as she lays on the ground.

"Stay down!" Claire spits, her hands glowing with a sickly green aura.

Dylan summons a gravity pulse, pulling Jackson off balance. The energy distorts the air around him, forcing Jackson to fight against an invisible weight. "Not so tough now, are you drone?" Dylan taunts, a smirk breaking through his exhaustion.

Keegan continues to work frantically at the vortex, sweat dripping from his brow. The void energy crackles around him, growing in intensity. "Just a little more!" he shouts, his voice tight with strain.

"Keep going, Keegan!" Kat calls, firing arrows into the fray. Her precision weakens Jennifer further, each arrow landing with a sharp crack against her armor.

Jean snarls and raises her hands. "You will be obliterated!"

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing," Hail growls, frost spiraling from his sword. He swings, and a wall of ice erupts, cutting Jean off from her allies. She slashes through it with ease and sends Hail flying back to the far wall, but it buys us precious seconds.

The Court members regroup, their once-flawless coordination faltering. Each of them is weakened: Jean's movements lack their earlier precision, Jackson clutches his side where Kylen struck him and struggles against Dylan's gravity field., Jennifer's armor is cracked and Jamie is visibly poisoned.

"Keegan, now!" I shout, flames erupting around me as I charge to hold Jean's attention.

"I've got it!" Keegan yells triumphantly. The vortex stabilizes into a shimmering portal, its edges glowing with a deep purple light.

"Go!" Kylen orders, throwing another plasma ward to cover our retreat.

One by one, we dive through the portal. Claire helps a limping Kat through, while Alyse and Dylan drag an unconscious Hail. Kylen stays by the portal, his blade ready as he waits for the rest of us to make it through.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Jean's scream of rage echoes behind us as she launches a final blast of energy. I turn, the DragonsBreath glowing in my hands. With a mighty swing, I deflect the attack, sending it careening into the wall, where it explodes in a blinding flash.

"Red, move!" Keegan shouts, his voice cracking under the strain of keeping the portal open.

I leap through just as the portal starts to destabilize. The moment I land, Keegan collapses to his knees, the vortex pulling him in and snapping shut behind us.

We're safe. For now.

Panting, I look around. Everyone is battered, bloodied, but alive. Hail stirs weakly, muttering something under his breath. Alyse kneels beside him, her lightning still sparking faintly as she tends to his wounds.

Keegan looks up at me, exhaustion written all over his face. "Don't... say I never do anything for you."

I laugh, though it's shaky and filled with relief. "You just saved all of us, Keegan. That's worth more than words."

"Hey, don't forget me saving everyone from being deleted from reality!" Dylan exclaims.

We're in a dark, cavernous space, the only light coming from the faint glow of the DragonsBreath and Keegan's void energy still clinging to the edges of the portal. Wherever we are, it's not safe—but it's better than the Court's grasp.

"Where the hell are we?" Hail groans, rubbing his temples as he sits up.

Claire pulls out her tablet, her fingers flying across the screen. Her brows furrow. "I have no idea. Wherever this is, something's jamming my satellite signals. GPS is completely offline."

"Great, so we're stranded," Kat mutters, her tone sharp with frustration.

"Better here than back there with those shit cans," Dylan says, leaning against a wall and wincing as he presses a hand to his side.

"Keegan," Kylen cuts in, turning to him, "any chance you can whip up a portal out of here soon?"

Keegan shakes his head, still panting as he sits slumped on the ground. "Not a chance. Getting us out of there drained me completely. I'm going to need time—hours, maybe longer—to recover."

Alyse stands, brushing dust from her knees after checking Hail's wounds. She crosses her arms and looks to me. "Well, what's the plan, Captain?"

"I think—" I begin.

"We wait for Keegan to rest. That's the safest option," Kylen interjects, stepping forward.

"Thanks, Kylen," I say, narrowing my eyes, "but she was clearly asking me."

"She said 'Captain.' That's me, right? I'm the leader here," Kylen challenges, his gaze locked on mine.

I glance at Alyse, raising a brow. "Were you talking to him or me?"

Alyse sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose before turning to me. "You, Red," she says, then turns back to Kylen. "Look, it's nothing personal, Kylen, but Red has more experience when it comes to situations like this—especially when gods are involved."

Kylen's face hardens, his voice dripping with venom. "Yeah? And look where that experience has gotten you. Stranded on this planet, away from home. Getting all of us targeted by these gods in the first place. Hell, he got Domnik killed!"

"That wasn't my fault!" I snap, stepping closer. "And if it makes you feel any better, I don't even want to lead. If anyone should be in charge, it's Hail. He's Magnus' son. That makes him more qualified than either of us."

The group falls silent, all eyes turning to Hail as he leans against a wall, slowly getting to his feet. His expression is unreadable, but there's a heaviness in his voice when he speaks. "It can't be me," he says quietly. "I'm not worthy of it. There are things in my past—things I've done—that disqualify me. But..." He looks directly at me. "I agree with Alyse. Red has the most experience. He was clearly chosen by our parents. He even wields the DragonsBreath. If anyone should lead, it's him."

I take a deep breath, nodding as Hail's words sink in. "Anyone else?" I ask, scanning the group.

One by one, they all shake their heads. Exhausted, beaten, and out of their depth, they defer to me without hesitation. My gaze finally settles on Kylen.

For a moment, he doesn't move. Then, begrudgingly, he nods. "Fine. If everyone else agrees, it's your call. What do we do?"

I look at the weary faces of my friends and family, each waiting for me to give them hope. The weight of responsibility settles on my shoulders like a physical burden.

"We find shelter," I say finally. "Somewhere to regroup, recover, and plan our next move. Claire, see if you can figure out where we are. Keegan, get some rest—you're going to be our way out of here. And everyone else, keep your guard up. Wherever this is, we're not safe yet."

The group nods, and I start walking down the dim corridor, DragonsBreath glowing faintly in my hand. It's time to figure out where we've landed—and how the hell we're going to survive.

———Alyse———

My eyes follow Red as he wanders off, deeper into the shadows of the cave. His figure disappears around a corner, and for a moment, my mind begins to drift.

"You alright, Alyse?" Dylan's voice pulls me back to the present.

I turn to him, shrugging off the haze in my head. "Yeah, just bruised like the rest of you," I reply, glancing briefly toward the spot where Red vanished.

"You handled yourself pretty well out there," Dylan says, his tone light but genuine. "Meanwhile, I felt like I was winging it the whole time. Still not comfortable with these new keybinds, if you know what I mean?" His grin stretches wide, eyes squinting with playful mischief.

I shake my head, confused but unable to stop a small laugh at his expression. "Not exactly."

"Right! Duh," he says, smacking his forehead dramatically. "I forgot—you guys don't have computers back on your homeworld."

I roll my eyes, but his easy grin and the way he leans slightly forward, clearly excited to share, make it hard to stay serious. "No we don't," I say, crossing my arms, chuckling faintly. "Enlighten me. What's a keybind?"

"Pog! So, there's this thing called video games—"

His grin widens, and he launches into an enthusiastic explanation about controls and strategy, his hands moving animatedly as he talks. It's kind of cute, the way he rambles on. Despite myself, I find the tension in my shoulders easing. For a moment, the weight of everything we've just been through feels distant—like maybe we can still hold on to some small sliver of normalcy amidst all this chaos.

———Keegan———

I pull a cigarette from the crumpled pack in my hand, lighting it with a flick of my thumb. The familiar burn fills my lungs as I lean against the jagged cave wall. The flickering light of the fire nearby casts shadows that dance across the rock.

"Sure you should be doing that in a closed space like this?" Kat's voice cuts through the silence. She approaches with a smirk, her arms crossed like she's caught me doing something illegal.

I exhale slowly, the smoke curling lazily into the air. "Guess I'm like you in that way," I reply, tilting my head to meet her amused gaze. "I don't like to follow the rules."

Her grin widens, and she reaches out, plucking the cigarette from my lips without hesitation. She takes a slow puff, savoring it before handing it back. "Classic? Huh. Figured you for a menthol guy, Walker."

I chuckle, shaking my head. "If I wanted to taste mint or fruit or whatever the hell, I'd buy one of those hipster vapes. No thanks."

She lets out a small laugh, her eyes glinting with humor as she leans against the wall beside me, arms brushing mine.

"Wishing you hadn't met me yet?" I ask, voice low. "Maybe you'd be better off without all this... insanity."

She shakes her head, her gaze drifting to the others gathered across the cave, their voices a distant hum. "No. I kinda like it, actually. The whole sense of adventure," she says softly. "Besides, what else would I be doing? Normal life was starting to feel like a dead end."

"Yeah, but normal life didn't involve almost dying every other hour," I mutter, flicking the cigarette butt to the ground and grinding it out beneath my boot.

"True," she says with a sly grin. "But where's the fun in that?" Her smirk grows as she nods toward the others. "By the way, that little dick-measuring contest earlier? Pure entertainment. I hope it's not the last. I want front-row seats to every one."

I let out a laugh, a real one this time, and for a brief moment, the tension that's been choking the air in here eases. Kat laughs along with me, her voice a little lighter than I expected, and when we both fall silent, there's an odd sense of calm between us.

"What do we have here?" Kat teases suddenly, her eyes fixed on Alyse and Dylan, who are talking quietly on the far side of the cave. "Little angel girl and Astralis hitting it off?"

I glance over and nod. "Yeah, he mentioned he liked her not too long ago. Glad to see he can look past all the gods and other-worlds crap for a second."

Kat raises an eyebrow, her smirk softening into something more thoughtful. "It's a lot for me too, you know. I've been using my powers for... personal gain for so long. It's weird, stepping back and finding out I'm some pawn in a war between gods from a universe I didn't even know existed."

"Tell me about it," I say, running a hand through my hair.

She studies me for a second before nudging me gently with her elbow. "Yeah, but you've been the golden boy since day one, right? Saving the city and all that?"

I hesitate, the corner of my mouth twitching into a faint, bitter smile. "I tried to... but, uh..."

Kat's eyes soften, and she shakes her head. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, Walker."

I nod, grateful for the out. "Thanks."

She doesn't say anything else, and neither do I. For now, silence feels like enough.