A screech tore through Aelindoria, not a sound but a physical blow that struck the city’s protective barrier. The translucent dome buckled, its shimmering surface flickering like a dying candle flame, and for a gut-wrenching moment, we saw the behemoth silhouetted against the sky—a thing of void given form. A low, guttural rumble vibrated from its core, a promise of annihilation that resonated in our very bones.

Panic, swift and venomous, shattered the elves’ composure. The disciplined lines of the people dissolved into raw terror. Screams echoed between the crystalline spires—”The darkness! It has returned!”—a frantic chorus as parents snatched their children and fled for the false safety of their homes.

But amidst the chaos, a few stood their ground, defiance hardening their features like forged steel. My gaze locked onto Cassius. He was the eye of the storm, a statue of pure resolve in the swirling tempest of fear. Then he turned, and his own power flared to life. Mana, visible as a white and gold aura, coiled around him, amplifying his voice over the din.

“To me!” he roared, the command cutting through the pandemonium. “All who will fight, arm yourselves and stand with me!”

His eyes found mine and in that single glance, an unbreakable pact was forged. It will not pass.

Moments later, they came—a small, desperate band of warriors, their swords drawn and their faces grim. I saw Bhaera among them, her injured arm held tight to her side, a liability she refused to acknowledge. Her good hand gripped her blade with a white-knuckled ferocity that spoke volumes. She met my gaze and gave a single, sharp nod.

“Cassius will open a portal!” I shouted to our new, hastily formed company. “We go through, draw its attention, and lead it away from the city!”

A chorus of determined shouts was their answer.

Cassius thrust his hands forward. Reality tore open before us, a swirling vortex of gold and white that hummed with immense power. One by one, our small war party plunged through. As I followed Cassius into the shimmering unknown, a single thought burned in my mind, a vow fueled by the fire in my veins: You will not take this home from them.

We tumbled through the portal into a field of tall, swaying grass that smelled of ozone and displaced air. Crouching low, my eyes locked onto the creature. Its attention remained fixed on Aelindoria’s distant, flickering barrier. It was a contradiction of muscle and shadow, its colossal limbs rippling as if woven from darkness itself. Though it possessed a solid form, it seemed to bleed at the edges, a formless terror given shape. A single blow from that thing, I knew, would be oblivion.

Bhaera was the first to rise. “I will draw its gaze,” she declared, her voice low and steady. “Be ready.”

Another elf stepped to her side, pressing his hands forward and pouring his own mana into her. A silver light shimmered around Bhaera’s body—not a barrier, but an augmentation of her own strength and speed. Then she was gone. She moved like lightning, a silver blur streaking across the field, almost too fast for the eye to follow. She reappeared at the behemoth’s feet, her blade flashing in a vicious arc against its ankle. Sparks erupted as steel met hide, but the creature didn’t flinch. It didn’t even seem to notice her. She tried again and again, but nothing.

“Bhaera, fall back!” Cassius’s command boomed across the field.

As she darted back to our position, Cassius gathered his power. A massive spear of pure mana materialized before him and shot forward, silent and lethal, barreling toward the creature’s chest. It struck with a concussive force that we felt in the air around us, but no sound. We held our breath. Instead of piercing its hide, the spear simply shattered, dissolving into a thousand fading motes of light.

How? How could it deflect raw mana?

“Let me try,” I said, my mind racing. A memory surfaced, sharp as shattered glass—of lesser shadow-kin, creatures of darkness that recoiled from flame. “Everyone, defensive stance!”

Focusing my will, I commanded a ring of fire to erupt at the creature’s feet. It worked. A guttural growl of protest rumbled from the beast, and its huge head snapped down. It lifted a colossal leg and stomped, extinguishing the fire and sending a shockwave through the ground that nearly knocked us from our feet.

But it felt that, I thought, a grim satisfaction cutting through the fear. It drew its attention.

This time, I didn’t just summon a fire; I gave it a purpose. A serpent of flame coiled from my hands and slithered aggressively across the grass. That was enough. The creature turned its full, terrifying focus upon us. Its face was a smooth, featureless plane of shadow, save for two burning, yellow eyes that blazed with malevolent intelligence. For a horrifying moment, I thought it had no mouth.

Then it shrieked—the same barrier-shattering sound from before—and its face tore open, revealing a maw filled with an array of large, jagged teeth.

With a ground-shaking tread, it began to move toward us.

Now what?

As if in answer, three elves beside me formed a line, unleashing a combined barrage of mana bolts at the advancing horror. They dissipated a handspan from the creature’s hide, dissolving into harmless wisps. Mana attacks were useless. That left only physical force.

“All swords, on me!” Bhaera’s voice cut through the noise, no longer a comrade but a commander. Seven others formed up beside her. I saw one, a young male, trembling slightly, but he gripped his sword with white knuckles and stood his ground.

Bhaera gave Cassius a sharp nod. “Everyone else,” Cassius commanded, his voice ringing with authority, “pour your power into them! Give them strength! Give them speed!”

I pulled my own sword from its sheath. “I’m with you.” Cassius and I joined the line. Instantly, I felt the borrowed mana surge through me—a crackling current that made my limbs feel impossibly light.

I dismissed the serpent of fire. The behemoth froze, its advance halting. Then its burning yellow eyes locked onto our small war party, and it charged.

“Now!” Cassius roared.

We met its charge with our own. My world narrowed to a tunnel of violence with only one thing in focus: the monster. I aimed for its leg, my augmented speed lending my blow incredible force. My blade struck true—and skidded off with a shower of sparks. All around me, it was the same story: nine swords striking against an invisible wall.

Again! my mind screamed. I swung, putting every ounce of strength into the attack. This time, I saw it—a faint, momentary ripple in the air around the beast. A shield. But creatures can’t wield mana… unless it’s innate. My mind flashed back to the shield at the magic tower, to the resonant frequency that shattered its defenses. I can do this.

“Keep it busy!” I yelled, stepping back from the line. I summoned my own mana, not as a weapon, but as a probe. I cast it like a net, letting it whirl around the creature, searching, feeling for the weak point, the one discordant note in its symphony of defense. There. A flicker. I focused all my will on that single point.

With a sound like shattering crystal, the barrier imploded.

The swords of the elves finally bit into flesh. The creature shrieked, not in pain, but in pure, unadulterated rage. Its arm, a pillar of shadow and muscle, swept down toward the trembling young elf, who was frozen solid in terror.

No! I didn’t think; I acted, shoving him out of the path of the descending blow.

“THALIA!” Cassius’s scream was the last thing I heard before the world vanished. The creature’s hand closed around me, and I was swallowed by an absolute, suffocating blackness. An icy cold seeped through my skin, chilling me to the bone. The air was thick as tar and reeked of death and nothingness. In the crushing dark, with my arms pinned to my sides, all sound ceased. It was as if I was dissolving into the void itself.

Panic clawed at my throat. I commanded my mana to flare outwards, a desperate, violent push against the prison of flesh. I felt a slight give in its grasp. More! I pushed again. My right arm came free.

The hilt of my sword was still slick in my palm. Pouring my will into the blade, I made it hum with power and stabbed upwards with all my might. The creature shrieked, a piercing sound of agony, and its hand flew open.

Blinding light replaced the darkness. I was dangling high above the ground, my entire weight held by the sword embedded in the creature’s palm. Below, the others were small figures at its feet. I saw Cassius look up, his face a mask of trembling horror.

“Everyone, get back!” I screamed, a desperate, insane idea forming in my mind. “GET BACK!”

I focused my remaining energy not on myself, but on the ground in the creature’s path. As the behemoth took its next lumbering step, a massive tree root, thick as my body, erupted from the earth. The creature’s foot caught, and with a bellow of surprise, it crashed backwards.

The violent motion ripped the sword from my grasp. I was airborne. I was falling. The ground rushed toward me with impossible speed. The world seemed to slow. I saw Cassius running, his arms outstretched, his eyes wide with terror.

Then, just before impact, I felt it. A warmth enveloped me, a swirling braid of amethyst, gold, and white light. It was our mana. His had instinctively reached for me, and mine for his, weaving together in a tangible bond. The energy cushioned my fall, setting me on my feet so gently I stumbled.

My mind was still reeling from the connection, but the fight was already over. The other elves had swarmed the fallen creature. Bhaera stood victorious on its chest, her own cry of savage triumph echoing as she drove her sword deep into its featureless face. The behemoth’s body convulsed once, then fell still with a ground-shaking thud that silenced the world.

The elves jumped down as its form began to dissolve. The massive body didn’t decay; it unraveled, the shadows that composed it bleeding away into nothing until only the foul stench of death remained, clinging to the air like a shroud.

Silence fell over the field, broken only by ragged, desperate gasps for air. We had won, yet there was no celebration. I looked from face to face, seeing the same weary relief and deep-seated horror reflected in every pair of eyes.

Before I could process it, Cassius was at my side. His hands hovered over my shoulders, his gaze sweeping over me, searching for injury. The terror I’d seen in his eyes as I fell was still there, warring with a furious relief. Before the question could leave his lips, I managed a tired smile.

“I’m okay, Cassius. I’m okay.”

“That was reckless, Thalia,” he said, his voice tight with a mixture of reprimand and awe. His gaze swept over the other weary warriors. “But I’m glad you are all alive.”

As if drawn by his words, the eyes of every elf on the field turned to us. The young warrior I’d saved, the mages who had lent us their strength—they all looked to Cassius and me, their expressions searching, expectant, and afraid.

I knew what came next.

We would have to return to Aelindoria. Our people’s celebration, their brief moment of peace, was over before it had begun. The darkness was no longer a distant threat. It was here, at our gates, and it would not wait.