Chapter 31: The Endless Hole
The stench of blood and sweat was thick in the air, mingling with the metallic tang of unspent magic. Kael stood at the ridge's edge, his sharp eyes fixed on the battlefield below, his hand resting on Titanis’s mechanical body. The tiny dragon hatchling let out a low rumble, more felt than heard, as if it too could sense the brewing storm.
The soldiers surged forward in tight ranks, well-trained but far too few against the teeming mass of horrors spilling from the depths of the ridge. Teeth glinted in the twilight, claws raked the earth, and the air rang with the clash of steel and the guttural cries of dying men. The healers, mages, and priests stood idle behind him, their energy coiled and waiting. They knew their power would be needed for something far worse than this skirmish.
Kael’s mouth was a thin line as he scanned the fray. Lyanna and Alric stood out like beacons, their movements fluid, untiring, defying the exhaustion that pulled the others down. He didn’t need to see the glint in Lyanna’s eye or the faint shimmer around Alric to know: they were holding back, their magic simmering beneath their skins like a too-hot forge.
"Not yet," Kael murmured, stroking Titanis’s fur. The beast huffed in agreement, its amber eyes fixed on the dark mouth of the cave at the heart of the ridge.
Then it came.
The cave disgorged the Devourer, and the world seemed to still for one breathless moment. It was an eldritch nightmare, an oozing, amorphous titan that defied logic. Its surface shimmered, a translucent nightmare of flesh that seemed to devour light itself. Eyes blinked and disappeared across its form, and when it moved, it did so with a sickening, fluid grace.
Kael’s stomach churned, but he kept his expression flat. He couldn’t afford fear now, not with the army faltering. Around him, the priests began to chant, their voices rising in a reverent dirge. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as their pleas to the Father and the Mother filled the air. Golden light spread across the ridge like a second dawn, flowing down to the soldiers below. The wounded stood straighter, their breaths coming easier, and the lethargy that had clung to them like chains shattered.
The mages joined in, their hands weaving intricate patterns as they pulled power from the elements. The air crackled with fire and ice, the ground shuddered with the force of earth’s fury, and torrents of wind swept through the horde of creatures that surged from the Devourer’s form. The soldiers found renewed strength in the chaos, cutting down the beasts with ruthless efficiency.
But the Devourer... It did not falter.
Lyanna was the first to meet it, her twin blades singing as they carved into the gelatinous mass. Each strike left a gash that oozed black ichor, but the creature’s flesh flowed like a tide, sealing the wounds almost as fast as they were made. Alric flanked it, his sword wreathed in slicing winds that cleaved chunks from the beast. His magic whirled around him, a storm in human form.
Kael watched with growing unease. Each strike diminished the creature—slightly. It grew smaller, its bulk shrinking as if bleeding away its essence. Yet it was not just losing; it was gaining. Its attacks grew sharper, its movements quicker, and the shadows it cast seemed to deepen with each passing moment.
Lyanna fought like a demon, her strikes precise and unyielding, while Alric danced around the beast with deadly grace. But Kael’s eyes weren’t on the battle—they were on the Devourer’s core.
It was feeding.
Even as they hacked and tore at it, even as the soldiers rallied, even as the mages unleashed a torrent of destruction upon its horde, the Devourer was consuming something far more vital. The very essence of life and magic itself seemed to flow into it, and Kael could only hope that Lyanna and Alric had noticed it too.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Because if they hadn’t... they were already lost.
----------------------------------------
Kael’s breath quickened as his gloved hand tightened around the smooth wood of the crossbow. The metal bolt gleamed in the pale light, a promise of death locked and ready. He shoved the last rune-carved plate into his pouch, its etched lines glowing faintly with his connection to Titanis. Bonding with the tiny dragon had unlocked something in him—something fierce, potent, and untamed. The runes, once painstaking to craft, now felt like second nature.
“Move!” Kael barked, sprinting down the ridge.
Kate was already ahead of him, her staff a blur of motion as she deflected a jagged claw aiming for a fallen soldier. The earth shuddered with each blow Titanis struck behind them, the tiny dragon moving with the ferocity of a creature ten times its size.
Kael fired. The bolt whistled through the air, finding its mark in the twisted skull of a beast. It collapsed in a heap of writhing limbs, twitching in death. Without pausing, Kael hurled one of the rune plates forward. It hit the ground with a sharp clink just as he channeled a sliver of essence through his bond with Titanis. The plate flared to life, and a wall of earth erupted from the ground, blocking the path of another monster.
The roar of battle behind him was muted—his focus was ahead, where Kate darted like a shadow, her movements precise and unrelenting. Titanis followed, claws skittering on stone as the dragon kept pace. Every movement between them felt natural, bonded.
“Keep up, Kael!” Kate called over her shoulder, her tone sharp, edged with adrenaline.
Kael didn’t answer, instead raising his crossbow and loosing a bolt. The projectile whistled through the air and found its mark: the eye of a hulking beast. It went down with a gurgling screech, its weight crumpling the earth beneath it. Kael was already moving, pulling a rune-etched plate from his belt and flinging it toward another monster that charged their path. The plate landed, glowing with searing light as it activated. The air sucked in as a wall of fire, cut off the creature's charge.
Titanis lunged forward, tearing into another horror with surgical precision. The beast reared up, towering over the small dragon, but Titanis was faster. Kael felt the impact in his chest, the bond thrumming with shared power as Titanis ripped out the monster’s throat.
Kate knelt beside the cluster of fallen soldiers, her hands glowing with healing light. Kael stood over her, crossbow raised, while Titanis circled the group, guarding them from the encroaching horde. Together, they were a seamless unit—Kael’s bolts struck true, his rune plates conjuring barriers and elemental traps, while Titanis moved with the deadly efficiency of a predator born to hunt.
“Done,” Kate said, standing abruptly. “Let’s—”
The ice spear came out of nowhere.
It was so sudden, so clean, that Kael didn’t understand what had happened at first. One moment, Kate was there—alive, breathing, moving. The next, her body jerked violently as the spear pierced her skull, entering through her left eye and emerging through the back of her head. The light in her hands flickered and died as she crumpled to the ground.
Kael froze. His breath caught, his pulse roaring in his ears. For a heartbeat, all he could do was stare at her body, his mind refusing to accept what his eyes saw.
“No,” Kael whispered, his voice breaking.
Kate crumpled forward, her staff clattering to the ground. Kael’s world narrowed to the sight of her lifeless form, the blood pooling beneath her.
Titanis roared, but it wasn’t the sound of triumph. It was a wail, a primal, guttural cry of loss and fury.
Kael’s head snapped up, his vision swimming with rage. The ice mage stood on a nearby ridge, their cloak billowing in the wind. One of their own. Someone who was supposed to be fighting beside them.
His chest heaved as his mind spiraled. He’d seen this before—too many times. Greenhaven burning. His mother’s. His sister’s. His father’s broken form beneath the rubble of their home.
Everyone he loved died.
Everyone.
Titanis nudged his shoulder, a low whine rumbling from the beast. The bond thrummed with unspoken emotion, and Kael felt the weight of Titanis’s presence pressing against the edges of his mind.
Grief turned to anger, anger to resolve. Kael stood, his grip on the crossbow tightening until his knuckles turned white. The mage would pay.
Kael’s hand trembled as he loaded another bolt. But this one wasn’t for the beasts. It wasn’t for the Devourer. This one was for the traitor on the ridge.
Titanis’s eyes locked with his, the bond between them surging with raw emotion. The dragon snarled, as if to say: Do it.
“Stay with me, Titanis,” he murmured, his voice cold and steady. The hatchling growled in response, a predator’s promise.
Kael turned toward the ridge, his path clear. The battle raged on around him, but it was distant now, irrelevant. He would find the mage.
And he would end them.