Weapons drawn, Cassian and Luna slid down the rubble into the chamber. Light followed closely behind, jumping down with all the grace of a big cat. Despite Cassian seeming to have a good relationship with Light, Luna still couldn’t help but feel nervous being in such close proximity to the wild animal.

She shook her head as her boots stepped onto the iron floor. His massive talons shredding the bloated brute lingered in her thoughts. At least he’s on our side. One wall of the chamber was open to the elements. A low stonework guardrail was all that separated the chamber from the rocks and river hundreds of yards below. A cold breeze blew in from the opening and the view of the mountains was a welcome sight after being surrounded by the fiery ruins.

The three of them joined the fight. Tyriel, Cassian, Light, and Luna circled the Bohlkovian prophet trying their best to overwhelm him by attacking from every angle. Luna had naively expected that surrounding Venyov would make bringing him down much easier. That certainly did not prove to be the case. Veins burning like lava over bulging muscles, Venyov spun like the most elegant of dancers, deflecting blow after blow.

Luna lunged forward, attempting to bury her rapier deep in his shoulder. He spun around with unbelievable quickness, deflecting the blow so powerfully that Luna was launched backwards and her sword flew out of her hand. The sting of the impact burned her hand but she pushed through the pain and rolled over to the edge of the room, scooping her rapier from the floor. When she turned her attention back to the fight, she saw Light fly through the air and barrel into Venyov’s back. The giant cat dug his claws in and tried to sink his teeth into the exposed black flesh.

Before Light could bite down, Venyov lunged forward into a roll. When he came out of the roll he used the tail end of his spear to throw the snow leopard forcefully away. Boom! The force of Light smashing into the wall shook the chamber. A cloud of dust billowed up around him and Light’s muscular frame went limp.

"Light!” Cassian cried out. The look of concern on his face expressed how very much he wanted to run over and check on his friend. Instead, he roared and slashed horizontally at Venyov. Luna ran back towards the fight and for a moment she thought Casian’s attack might land. Venyov was just too fast though. He flipped sideways over the sweeping blade and carried his momentum into a question mark kick that found its target.

The force of the kick that caught Cassian squarely in the side of the head shut his lights off. The prince dropped his sword, his limbs went stiff, and he collapsed. Luna screamed.

Venyov tossed his spear up in the air, attempting to catch it point down then drive it through Cassian’s chest. As the blade zipped downwards, Tyriel rolled into the way and knocked it off course with his curved blade. A cold sweat hit Luna, and her eyes expressed the overwhelming sense of panic she felt. If we keep following this course, we’ll all die. That’s when an idea came to her. Luna gasped and dashed towards Venyov and Tyriel.

“Tyriel, we can’t win with just one shardblood! I’ll distract him, you need to break the curse that’s holding back Cassian!” Luna bellowed.

In his blood rage, it took a moment for her words to sink in. Tyriel continued launching strike after strike at Venyov only to have each one dodged or deflected. Luna found the last tangleroot vial on her belt and hurled it at the prophet. As it flew through the air, her breath caught in her throat. Venyov spun around and tried to hit the vial away but when it collided with the speartip it exploded. The liquid washed over his jet black skin.

Moments later a tangle of thick roots ripped up through the iron floor and began wrapping around him. Venyov tried to lash out and cut the vines but there were too many, even for a shardblood. He writhed and fought against them trying to cut his way free.

Tyriel sprinted over to Cassian and looked down to see half his face was bruised black and blue. The elven king pulled the amulet from his cloak and gripped it tightly in his palm. He grimaced, and Luna wondered if the voices of the poor souls he wasn’t able to save over the centuries were screeching at him.

Luna noticed that Venyov was starting to free himself from the prison of roots. His fiery veins burned through the vines. Looking over her shoulder at Tyriel and Cassian, Luna pleaded, “Hurry! It won’t hold much longer!”

The elven king held the amulet up and it began glowing with the warmth of a thousand suns. Tyriel’s feet lifted up off the ground. As the amulet shook violently, Cassian’s black eyes blinked uncontrollably and he began convulsing. A wicked voice exploded from his mouth spewing curses in an ancient language. Tyriel’s eyes shifted white like the light illuminating the amulet.

The ritual seemed to aggravate Venyov and he shrieked. The ear piercing noise being projected from the prophet forced Luna to the ground. She covered her ears and grimaced. The thorny vines tangled all around Venyov were burning away rapidly and he had nearly freed himself. Tyriel wasn’t going to have enough time. Luna knew what she needed to do.

A triumphant hiss filled the air as the divine prophet broke free from the mess of roots. He snapped his head towards Tyriel and screamed at the elven king, then dashed towards him spear extended. Muttering a curse under her breath and thinking of her friends and her brother Lane, Luna positioned herself directly in Venyov’s path.

Ash swirled all around the elven king. A chilling gust of wind blew through the chamber. Without warning Tyriel exhaled sharply and fell to the ground. At that exact moment, Cassian gasped like he was breathing for the first time. His eyes blinked open and they were no longer inky black orbs. He scanned the scene around him confusedly.

The fiery veined Venyov transformed into an effigy of hatred. He leaped towards her with his spear cocked back. Luna did her best to brace for the impact but it was like a child trying to stop a charging bull. The spear ripped through her shoulder. As searing agony exploded from the wound, Venyov threw her from his path. Luna bounced across the floor, stopping with a loud thud when she smacked into the guardrail.

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The pain flared up in sharp waves and Luna clutched at her bloody shoulder. She looked up to see Cassian standing tall beside Tyriel.

Cassian’s eyes smoldered like purple lightning and he held his longsword pointed at Venyov. “Your purpose betrays you, devil. They say the lord of embers speaks through you.” He shook his head and scoffed at the prophet. “I say the whisperings in your head are nothing more than the paranoid delusions of a madman.”

Venyov’s wicked laughter echoed through the chamber. “You feign to know anything, princeling? This world cannot survive the coming perils without a shepherd who is willing to make the necessary sacrifices.”

“Conjurer of lies!” Shouted Tyriel. “How dare you preach of necessary sacrifices.It’s impossible for one lacking a heart to properly judge necessity. My kin will flourish for ages to come, and that future can only blossom from your death.”

His lips twisted into a vindictive smile and Venyov shook his head. “The heretic is always better off dead, and mortal eyes can never distinguish the heretic from the divin—”

Tyriel, red with anger, didn't allow Venyov to finish. The elven king had heard enough. He surged forward and somersaulted into the air, driving down his long curved blade towards the prophet. Venyov sidestepped the attack and slashed downward diagonally with his spear. The razor sharp spearhead sundered Tyriel’s gleaming golden armor and cut a deep gash through his midsection.

The elven king fell to one knee. Wiping his mouth with his cloak, he coughed and spit up blood.

Before Venyov could launch a killing blow at Tyriel, Cassian maneuvered in close. The amethite energy pumping through his veins reinvigorated him. Utilizing his advanced military training, he seemed to understand that since his enemy fought with a spear, as long as Cassian could stay in close, he could keep Venyov at a disadvantage.

The tactic seemed to be working. As Venyov attempted to control the distance and create room for his attacks, Cassian utilized his enhanced agility to smother the prophet. Cassian became like the galley, flowing with the waves. To make his attacks harder to predict, the prince attacked from every angle and mixed in feints every couple strikes. It was working well and the momentum shifted until Venyov threw down his spear and drew two crimson daggers. Suddenly the tables had turned.

Now it was Cassian on his back foot trying to create distance while Venyov stayed in close, lashing out with the blood glass daggers. Cassian tried every move he knew to find some separation, but nothing was working. He couldn’t keep dodging and barely parrying the blindingly fast attacks. Sooner or later he wasn’t going to be quick enough and one would sneak through his guard.

Luna was losing a lot of blood and she felt the world beginning to spin around her. Squinting her eyes to focus, she saw Tyriel climb back up to his feet. The spear wound across his torso looked bad, blood was pumping from him and pooling on the iron floor. Color was draining from the elven king, his light blue skin was becoming paler by the second. His eyes glowed purple still, but it was as if the fire was running out of kindling and his face looked weary. Tyriel glanced over at Luna and smirked, then charged towards the divine prophet.

The dagger strikes were picking up speed and even with the enhanced perception from the amethite, Cassian was starting to have trouble tracking the blurry red blades. Frustration was building inside of him and with a look down at his longsword that he had no room to swing, he screamed in irritation.

Venyov cackled like a hyena as one of his daggers finally hit its target. The glass blade bit into Cassian’s left forearm and he yelped. Cassian didn’t have time to see how bad the damage was. The daggers kept weaving in and out, all the prince could do was continue trying to find the separation to strike back with his longsword. A quick glance over his shoulder informed Cassian that he was nearly backed up to the guardrail.

Luna was ebbing in and out of consciousness but she gasped when she saw Cassian running out of ground. Looking over the edge, she knew that there would be no surviving a fall from that height.

Just as Cassian could retreat no further without falling backwards over the guardrail, Tyriel shouted to him. “Cassian, duck!”

Cassian’s eyes went wide and he only realized what was happening at the very last second. The prince dropped to the floor just as Tyriel crashed hard into Venyov. She didn’t know if it was because of the heavy blood loss or the adrenaline but the moment slowed down for Luna. It felt like her lungs stopped working and she couldn’t breathe.

Tyriel wrapped his arms tightly around his mortal enemy. His momentum sent the two of them crashing through the guardrail and plummeting off the edge of the mountain. Cassian and Luna watched in horror as the prophet and the elf grew smaller and smaller before disappearing through the clouds.

Tears streamed down Luna’s face and Cassian knelt there paralyzed by disbelief. After a moment passed, Cassian wrapped his arms around her and applied pressure on her wound. “Luna! Stay with me. You’re going to be alright.”

Light limped over to them and between labored breaths rubbed his face against Cassian. The prince pressed his face into his friend's fur and tried his best to keep himself from crying. “I’m so happy you’re alive, buddy,” Cassian attempted to say, but with his face buried in the horned leopard’s fur it came out as an inaudible mess. Light seemed to understand what Cassian meant however and licked his friend’s face, as if to say he felt the same.

Cassian picked up Luna in his arms and carried her up the rubble and out of the chamber. Light followed behind limping. When they reached the top they were greeted by a battered and exhausted group of elves and humans cheering. It appeared that the last of the bloated brutes had finally been defeated. Reinhold looked over to the prince and nodded.

Mariska ran up to Cassian, gasping before covering her mouth with her dirty hands. “Luna!” She cried out.

Cassian looked around desperately and yelled for help, “Please! She needs medical attention!”

Luna’s eyes were barely open now and consciousness felt like dirt slipping through her fingers. She looked over at Mariska and smiled before peeking up at Cassian. “Thank you for saving me, your highness.”

Cassian set her down and Mariska began digging through her bag to find the supplies needed to cauterize her wound. The prince held her hand in his tightly and stared into her green eyes. “I didn’t save you, Luna. You saved us all.”

Luna desperately wanted to respond cleverly, but all that came out was an incoherent mumble, then she passed out.