They charge, but Arax doesn’t flinch. His sword remains untouched at his side as his hands move in fluid, mystical patterns, weaving threads of smoke that grow in size and intensity. The black tendrils lash out like whips, ensnaring the remaining Blades, hurling them against the walls with a sickening thud. They struggle, limbs kicking, but they are no match for the smoke that pins them, suffocating their efforts.
“Go!” Arax yells.
But Lanneth is already shedding her black robe, revealing her body covered in the cursed runes of Gygarth. Smoke coils around her fingers like living creatures, and she raises her hands, eyes blazing. Arax sends another tendril toward her, but she merely flicks her wrist, turning it to ash before it crumbles to the floor.
Solena grabs my arm, yanking me toward the wall where a Blade writhes against the shackles of smoke. She taps the hidden panel, and with a soft click, the secret door swings open.
“Hurry!” she urges, pulling me inside.
I glance over my shoulder just in time to see Lanneth’s smoke wrapping around Arax, twisting his body in mid-air. His eyes lock onto mine, his jaw tight, pain etched across his face.
“Go, Princess!” he roars.
Solena yanks me into the tunnel, slamming the door shut behind us. The sound of footsteps echoes from the other side.
“It won’t hold them,” I murmur, fear creeping into my voice.
Solena’s eyes dart around the tunnel, panic seeping into her movements as she searches frantically for something.
“What? What are you looking for?”
Suddenly, she notices the layer of dust on the door. Without a word, she draws a rune into the dust with her finger. As the final stroke is completed, the rune pulses, glowing faintly, and I feel the magic ripple through the air around us.
“I am not a great runeweaver, but that should hold them,” she says, breathless. “Just not for long.”
Chapter 27
We stumble through the winding tunnel, the air damp and suffocating as we run, our feet slapping against the stone floor in a frantic rhythm. My breath comes in short gasps, my legs burning with every step. Solena is just as panicked, her usually nimble form stumbling as exhaustion grips her. Despite moving as fast as we can, we’re gaining not nearly enough ground.
Lanneth’s voice echoes through the fortress, growing louder with every passing second, her cruel laughter bouncing off the walls. “You cannot run, Amara! You cannot hide!”
There is no way out. I know this in my heart. Baev’kalath is a prison with no escape.
Solena cannot fly us away from here—she doesn’t have the strength. And even if she could, where would we go? We would never make it across the Untold Sea, just the two of us.
Lanneth will catch us eventually, and when she does…
Solena stumbles beside me, her breath ragged. “Amara,” she gasps, grabbing my arm to steady herself. “I can’t—”
“We have to keep moving!” I shout, fear twisting through me.
But as we round the next corner, we come to a sudden stop. There, standing in the middle of the tunnel, blocking our path like the worst possible omen, is the ghost of Baev’kalath.
It’s the last thing I want to see right now, and the shock on Solena’s face suggests she can’t decide what’s worse—that the ghost is real, or that I’m not afraid of it.
“Amara,” Solena whispers, fear seeping into her voice. “Do you know what that is?”
“Unfortunately,” I reply.
“You have finally awakened,”the ghost says, its voice a low, hollow echo.
“Yes,” I exhale. “I understand now.”
“Are you ready to run?”
I blink, the weight of the ghost’s words sinking in. My heart hammers in my chest as I realize what it means.
“Yes,” I say, my voice trembling. “Yes, I’m ready.”
