"Run!"
Risha’s voice echoed through the narrow path.
Impressed by the sheer control despite her injury, Lumin didn’t hesitate. He followed Uru’en, who had hooked an arm around a grimacing Bane, princess carrying him toward the safety of the glowing circle. The sight was comical, but laughing could wait for now.
They were almost there.
Five meters.
Three.
Tw-BOOM!
With a loud bang, the ice walls around them shattered.’
’~~~’
The darkness around them convulsed, as if the domain itself had taken a breath and then clenched.
’Not good!’
Several thick, rope-like tendrils of pure darkness erupted from the ground at Lumin’s feet. Two wrapped around his ankle, yanking his legs out from under him. Another pair snaked around his wrists before he could even react. A fifth lashed around his torso, squeezing the air from his lungs.
They pulled with horrific strength, dragging him backward, away from the light, away from the group, and into the waiting, hungry dark.
It happened in a single, blurred second.
Too fast for a cry, too fast for even Risha’s sharp eyes to track with more than a glimpse.
The last thing he heard was Uru’en’s voice, calling out his name.
"LUMIN!"
_______ ______ __
Uru’en saw her mother’s panicked face and realized something was wrong.
She quickly turned back.
She only managed to catch Lumin’s face for a split second, eyes wide, mouth open in a soundless gasp, before the darkness swallowed him whole.
"LUMIN!"
Her shout tore from her throat. She tried to lunge forward, to charge into the dark after him.
But a weak voice came from the person she was holding. "Uru’en...?"
It was Bane. The sound, pained and confused, made her freeze. A strange, heavy sensation filled her chest, a mix of panic, guilt, and something else she couldn’t name.
Before she could untangle the feeling, two massive, familiar hands grabbed her and Bane. Her father lifted them both like they were children and hauled them the last few steps into the glowing circle of her mother’s relic.
The immediate pressure of the surrounding darkness lifted. They were safe.
But Lumin wasn’t.
’Lumin... He...’
Her mind replayed the last second. Lumin’s face. His expression... it was doubtful. It looked almost betrayed. And that gaze... it wasn’t aimed at the monsters. It was aimed past her, at...
At Bane.
’Could it be—?’
"Daughter, snap out of it!" Her mother’s voice was a whip-crack, cutting through her spiraling thoughts. Risha’s single amber eye was fixed on the seething darkness where Lumin had vanished. "It’s too late now."
"B-but..." Uru’en struggled to form words, her gaze still locked on the empty spot.
"W-we should save him." The voice came from beside her. Bane had gotten down from her hold, clutching his bleeding shoulder. His face was pale but set with determination. "He helped us a lot. We can’t just leave him."
"Y-yes. That’s right." Uru’en nodded firmly, her earlier doubts about Bane fading. If Bane truly were Lumin’s enemy or had betrayed him, he wouldn’t be speaking this way. Instead, he would be pleased that Lumin was gone. Clearly, he was trying to assist him.
"No, we can’t," Risha cut in again, her voice final. She gestured sharply at their battered group, at the phantoms and monsters still pressing against the flickering light of her necklace. "It’ll be a miracle if we can get ourselves out of this." Her lone eye then fixed on Bane, sharp and assessing. "And who are you?"
"I’m—"
"He’s a friend!" Uru’en cut in, stepping slightly in front of Bane.
"I didn’t ask you." Her mother’s voice was a cold slap as she didn’t even look at her. Her hand swiped through the air, and a volley of ice spikes shot past them, impaling five shadow-beasts that had tried to breach the gap. The other barbarians surged forward, hacking at the wounded creatures and closing the breach.
"I’m Bane," he said quickly, his voice steady despite the pain. "I was traveling, got caught in this... this nightmare. Your daughter found me."
Risha’s lone eye studied him for a long, silent moment. "Alright. Then stay here. This is the safest place for now." Her gaze finally shifted to her daughter, then to the glowing relic in Uru’en’s hand. "You really did it, huh?"
"Umm." Uru’en nodded, then held the Fangs of the Great Hunts out to her mother. "But I think it should be in your hands. That way, it will serve its purpose fully."
Risha nodded, a grim understanding in her eye.
’It’s time to show them a real Drakari.’
She took the relic and held it close to her own glowing necklace.
’Ancestors, please support this descendant of yours!’
The two relics touched.
For a heartbeat, nothing happened.
Then, light erupted.
A blinding, brilliant white light exploded from the two relics, so intense it washed out all color, all shadow. It flooded the surroundings, illuminating everything in stark, painful detail. For a fleeting second, the light carved the silhouettes of the horde against the darkness — a writhing mass of clawed beasts, hulking phantoms, and at the very back, the colossal, winged outline of something that looked like a frozen eagle made of jagged ice and crescent moon.
The light lasted only a moment before it retracted violently, collapsing inward. It poured into Risha, enveloping her body. She floated a few inches off the ground. Her long black hair and brows bleached to a pure, luminous white. Her aura, previously a bit sluggish but still fierce, skyrocketed, becoming something serene, ancient, and utterly chilling.
She settled back onto the ground, her feet not making a sound. A soft, radiant glow emanated from her skin and clothes. Her single eye, now a piercing silver, scanned the stunned faces around her.
"I can’t keep this form for long," she murmured, her voice layered, serene, and cold as a glacier’s heart. "So we will get out of here quickly. But first..."
Her gaze landed on Bane.
"...let me take care of you."
Her hand moved.
It was a simple, open-palmed strike aimed directly at the center of his chest, fast as a lightning strike and carrying the weight of the awakened light.
"M-Mom, NO!"