Rune’s voice fractured into a thousand echoes, filling every corner of the chamber. “So, tell me, brave knight, did you come here to die?”
Darkness fell in the throne room, the only source of light coming from the currents of molten lava running through the chamber.
It cast an orange hue over Caelum’s face, and he smiled. “I came here to survive.” Then he spun around and shouted,“Nauthiz!”
The air shivered. The sword and shield screamed across the floor, dragged by invisible force. Sparks danced in its wake, the metal trembling like a living thing before it tore upward, landing in the knight’s waiting palm.
The word carried the weight of an old magic Rune had not witnessed since the dawn of the gods. A command carved into the bones of creation itself. For a heartbeat, his shadows recoiled as the sound of that word burned through them like a brand.
Rune’s voice deepened to a growl. “Where did you learn the old tongue?”
The knight didn’t answer. He steadied his grip, lifted the blade, and called out again, louder, fiercer, the syllables cutting through the air like sunlight through smoke.“Kenaz!”
A glyph flared to life along the sword’s hilt, glowing in the shape of a torch. White light burst from the metal, licking up the blade. It was bright, but not bright enough. The demons hissed at it angrily.
Rune raised a hand to shield his eyes, his skin smoking. His breath came sharp, caught between fury and disbelief. “You wield power not meant for mortal tongues,” he snarled. “Say those words again, and I will tear the tongue from your throat.”
The knight’s eyes glinted gold in the light. “You would not be the first to try.”
Darkness erupted out of Rune’s body, spiraling through the hall as his form blurred with smoke and ember. Black scales sprouted across his form as he rose as a dragon. His wings unfurled in a torrent of dark wind, stretching the length of the hall with a roar.
Caelum stiffened, but he didn’t retreat. That much Rune would acknowledge. He faced death head-on. Still, he gave him a chance to flee, a breath to reconsider. Yet the knight braced himself.
So be it.
Rune’s jaws split open, flame spiraling down his throat before bursting forward in a torrent of fire. It struck the knight’s shield, the impact flaring so bright that even demons flinched and turned their heads. The stag coat of arms warped under the flames.
But Caelum did not fall.
Through the blaze, Rune caught the flicker of symbols glowing along the shield’s edge. Fae script enchanting the shield to protect him with more ancient runes. It could only have one explication.
Lady Zinnia.
The Thornbearer must have sent the knight to rescue her goddaughter.
For all his mortal frailty, the knight fought like something born from prophecy. Every time Rune lunged, the man’s blade blazed with that cursed light, cutting clean through shadow. The dragon’s fangs could not reach him without searing his own flesh, and even disarmed, the mortal refused to yield, shouting those same infernal words that made the air tremble.
Rune’s restraint snapped.
His shadows surged like a living tide, ramming down the man’s throat, smothering the word before it could form. He whipped his tail, striking Caelum with the force of a battering ram. The knight hit the marble hard, sword clattering away. He gagged on the ground, gasping for air. Rune pinned him with one colossal claw, the stone beneath fracturing in a web of cracks. Caelum’s scream tore through the hall as ribs broke, blood flecking his lips.
Rune leaned close, smoke curling from his nostrils. He had been aching to unleash his ire.You could not have arrived at a more opportune time.
But instead of fear, the knight smirked, coughing on his own blood. “You are right, demon. Timing truly is everything.”
The throne room doors slammed open with a bang like thunder. Blinding light poured in, cutting through the smoke. Demons shrieked, fleeing from the illumination.
The light swept away the surrounding shadows, burning them away, and for the first time in centuries, the throne room of Karag Dûr gleamed bright as day.
“STOP!”Alora’s voice swept through the room, and every torch erupted in flame.
She stood in the doorway, hair unbound, blazing as bright as a star. The shadows rippled back from her as though dawn itself had breached the mountain.
Her gaze burned into him, white fire meeting the abyss. She crossed the floor with measured grace, the train of her crimson gown trailing behind like spilled blood. The crown of onyx and rubies he’d given her when she first arrived now rested on her head, gleaming like embers as her heels clicked sharply against the stone.
She looked like a true goddess of the night, and her fury struck him colder than any ray of sunlight. “Release him.”
Smoke curled around Rune’s jaw with his low growl.You would dare command me before my court?
