When Galen felt the tremors, he felt his stomach drop.

  Suddenly, in his mind he was back on Earth. He watched from above as the ground began to crack apart at Serenity’s feet. In a mere moment, the ground gave way, plunging her into the darkness of the forming chasm. The last thing he saw of her was a look of terror. There was something accusatory about it all, as though she and the world itself were blaming him for her death.

  His breathing began to quicken, his heart beginning to race as he broke out in cold sweat…

  Then, Redian gave him a mental slap to the head. And he did it by sounding off a loud bang in his mind.

  Galen flinched, returning to reality as he held a hand to his head.

  Ow! Redian! What the hell-

  “Focus, boss!” the sword chastised, “we got a situation!”

  He frowned, then noticed how the people around him were beginning to rush about as Aleksi’s men came into the chamber, shouting.

  It took him a second to register the words.

  “The Dominion has found us!”

  ***

  Morpheus couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so alive.

  Ironic that he would feel that way as he charged through the chasms and swiftly ended the lives of a group of patrolling rebels.

  He’d felt a soaring thrill upon seeing them, and took it as a sign from Lord Athanasius that his prey was somewhere close.

  The group of rebels never stood a chance. Especially not when there had been only ten of them. He’d killed half their number before they’d realized they were under attack, and the remainder had swiftly followed within seconds.

  His Sentient Weapon, Duskrune, seemed to sing as it cut the air itself, the blade cutting apart his enemies with greater ease than a sharp knife cutting through butter.

  He took a deep breath, the metallic scent of spilled blood filling his nostrils.

  He grinned, and continued his sole charge into the tunnels.

  He and Venus had separated from the main force. The Shadows of Athanasius worked best either alone or in small groups. They were not mere commanders. There were others for those roles, though they could step in temporarily if needed.

  They were each a lethal killing machine. And Morpheus was determined to put the fear of Lord Athanasius into these rebellious filth. Though, he was not blinded by bloodlust. Far from it. He knew his true mission, his real goal. And he would see it through above all else.

  And so, he continued to hunt and kill as he searched for the stolen Champion among the riff raff.

  ***

  Aria’s heart sank as she heard the screams from Zareb’s soldiers sooner than most, “The Dominion has found us!”

  She found herself clutching the new sword that Zareb and Lusha had given her in a vice grip, her knuckles white from the strain.

  She forced herself to calm down and take a deep breath.

  Her eyes scanned the area, and she noted how the other elves had begun to panic.

  Someone needs to calm them down, she realized, someone has to-

  “LISTEN UP!” Lusha’s bellow could be clearly heard cutting through the rising alarm, “calm yourselves! You will solve nothing by panicking. Follow our instructions and you will have the best chance of survival! We will NOT let them take you again. Now move it!”

  Some of the soldiers helped group up and lead the former elf slaves.

  Aria scanned the area for Sana and Onas.

  Where are you… where... she found them being ushered into one of the many forming groups.

  She began to run towards them. Thankfully, they were not far. The moment she reached them, she threw herself at them and wrapped them each in an embrace with her arms.

  They immediately understood, returning the gesture.

  “The time has come, Aria,” Sana whispered to her.

  Aria nodded, her face buried between them. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

  “Remember, Lady Aria,” Onas said to her, “this isn’t goodbye. We WILL see each other again.”

  She nodded again.

  “Maker guide you, Aria,” Onas said to her.

  “May He protect you and give you strength,” Sana added.

  “And may He do the same for you all,” Aria choked back.

  They squeezed each other one final time before they reluctantly pulled away from each other.

  Sana and Onas gave her a reassuring smile.

  She tried to give one back, but no doubt failed to fully suppress the writhing emotions within her.

  “Go!” Sana told her.

  Aria did.

  She turned and ran, searching for either Daxton or Zareb.

  ***

  Galen quickly found Aleksi, who was barking orders at his soldiers. The moment his mentor noticed him, he began running his way to meet him.

  “Lad,” Aleksi placed his hands on his shoulders, “stick close to me. Blast it! I’d feared something like this would occur…”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “What are we going to do?” Galen asked with worry.

  “Lusha will be leading the effort to evacuate. However, we need to find Tufani. I’m afraid our journey must begin with haste!”

  “I was just with her earlier,” he explained, “but she ran off somewhere when this all started.”

  “Void,” Aleksi cursed. “We need to find her. Quickly now!”

  Fortunately, it was Aria who found them first.

  Just as they’d been about to search for the elf girl, they heard her shout, “BARUS! DAXTON!”

  They turned to see her running their way, faster than she should be capable of. Clearly she was using Ether to enhance herself.

  “Lass!” Aleksi called out with relief as he and Galen ran to meet her.

  “Barus, what’s the pla-”

  An eruption of fire burst through one of the many entrances. Screaming, burning bodies ran out before collapsing to the ground, unmoving and eaten away at by the flames. A lone figure followed shortly along, one clad in armor as dark as night, exerting a strange pressure that seemed to make the very atmosphere oppressive.

  Galen heard Aria’s breath hitch, and he heard her whisper with a tremble in her voice, “A… a Shadow…”

  The Shadow scanned the chamber, before looking their way. Though a helm covered their face, Galen could almost FEEL the smile that spread on their lips.

  “ZAREB BARUS!!!!” the figure bellowed, their voice roaring across the chamber. “I FINALLY found you! I’ll be taking back our Champion!”

  Galen’s eyes widened, recognizing the voice. “Milton…” he uttered.

  Milton, or rather Morpheus, brandished their sword as he began to walk briskly their way.

  Galen turned to his companions. Aria was frozen, eyes widened, irises shaking, skin pale and clammy with sweat.

  Don’t tell me she’s having another panic attack! he hissed in his mind.

  He turned to Aleksi, who’d notably tensed. His jaw was clenched tightly shut, and he too was wide-eyed. Arvad’s warning came to Galen’s mind then, “I worry for Zareb. I worry about what he will do if he had to face his nephew in battle. I worry if he will be able to do what needs to be done… or if familial sentimentality will get in the way and cloud his judgment.”

  Come on Aleksi… Galen pleaded. Don’t you freeze up too…

  His mentor unsheathed his sword and stepped in front of him and Tufani. He too began to exert the same kind of pressure that Morpheus was emitting, though his seemed to shield them from the Shadow’s.

  Aleksi began to step towards Morpheus, and the Shadow seemed to grow excited as he began to quicken his pace.

  Galen worried for his mentor. He didn’t know what would happen if uncle and nephew clashed.

  Thankfully, he wouldn’t find out just yet.

  Morpheus was suddenly sent flying back and hit the wall so hard his body created a small crater.

  Where the Shadow had previously stood was Lusha, spear in hand.

  She glared intensely at Morpheus before barking to Galen, Tufani, and Aleksi without looking, “Get going! I’ll hold him off while everyone escapes!”

  Aleksi hesitated, but to his credit it was for a mere moment.

  He gave a single, firm nod to his wife before turning and sprinting towards Galen and Tufani.

  Before either could react, he picked them up, one in each arm, and began sprinting towards one of the exits.

  “Wait!” Tufani protested. “What of the others?! What of Lusha?!”

  “Lusha will be fine!” Aleksi responded. “If it’s just one Shadow, she can hold them off. Especially after you gave us valuable intel on their Armor. The others are already escaping. From here on, it’s up to them to escape! As much as I want to help them, we have our own mission…”

  Tufani looked as upset as Galen felt, but they both knew there was no arguing this point. So, they both resigned themselves and let Aleksi carry them through the chaos.

  However, the man was forced to stop, booted feet digging into the ground as he halted suddenly.

  “What happ-” Galen nearly bit his tongue off as his mentor suddenly tossed him and Aria behind him.

  “Brace yourselves!” he barked as he stabbed his blade into the ground, fire erupting in front like a defensive pillar.

  Just before the flames blocked the view, Galen managed to catch of glimpse of what had stopped them.

  Another blast of flames coming from the exit they’d been about to take.

  Aleksi’s defensive Art canceled out the attack, and an eruption of flames shook the ground.

  Galen had thankfully covered his ears in time, though they still rang from the explosion.

  He coughed as he pushed himself to his feet. He looked to see Tufani had done the same. They gave each other a quick once over, checking to make sure the other was okay.

  They turned as they felt yet another oppressive sense of pressure coming from the direction the attack had come from.

  “My, my,” a melodic and clearly feminine voice rang out. “To think you’d have escaped Morpheus had I not been here.”

  Galen’s eyes widened as he recognized this voice as well. “Callista…” he breathed out, growing tense.

  A powerful step cracked the ground and cleared out the smoke and dust from the earlier explosion, revealing a more lithe figure clad in nearly identical armor to Morpheus standing several paces away. Aleksi stood in between her and them.

  The figure briefly paused, taking a moment to remove her helmet to reveal that he’d been correct. Callista’s beautiful features greeted him briefly. Her green eyes were cold, with none of the warmth she’d shown him before. She shot him an equally icy smile before putting her helmet back on.

  “That’s it?!” Galen yelled. “Mo greeting? Nothing?”

  “Just what is it you’d like me to say, Champion?” she asked. “I highly doubt we’d have anything pleasant to say to one another. So I’m not going to waste my breath.”

  “You damn-”

  Aleksi shot out his arm, and shook his head.

  Reluctantly, he listened and clenched his jaw.

  “Lad, lass…” Aleksi began, twirling his sword as he did. “I’ll keep this one occupied. Once you see an opening, get out of here.”

  “But-” Galen began.

  “I WILL find you after I’m done here. I promise. Now go!”

  “You think I’ll let you-” Callista began before she was forced to block a slash from Aleksi, who’d suddenly appeared in front of her and struck.

  Galen blinked, When had he-

  He shook his head, Focus, damn it!

  He turned to Tufani, who looked shaken but was regaining her composure. She met his eyes.

  Galen reached into his pocket and pulled out his bottle of Ether Intolerance pills. He quickly took a half dose, and primed the Ether in his filled Capacity.

  “Let’s go!” he gestured to the entrance where Aleksi and Callista fought, their movements but a blur to his eyes.

  “Now?!” Tufani protested.

  “I trust Aleksi,” Galen explained. “He’ll give us an opening.”

  “You’re crazy,” she muttered, though she followed him as he began to run.

  “Guess you’re crazy too, then?” he called back to her.

  “Shut it!”

  They both began to move faster as they burned Ether to enhance themselves. Galen noted with a bit of alarm how, even after burning a bit more of the power to enhance his eyes, Aleksi and Callista’s motions were still equally blurred to him from their speed.

  Just how fast are they moving?! he wondered.

  He shook his head and instead put all his focus into enhancing his speed. The power burned like a furnace within him, his Efficiency having improved notably from his training with Tufani and Aleksi.

  Even with that, however, Callista nearly got him.

  He’d barely even registered what happened.

  Time seemed to slow and he suddenly felt like he was in a slideshow.

  One second, he and Tufani were running full sprint towards the exit. The next, Callista was in front of him, hand outstretched to grab him by his face. Then, Aleksi sent her flying with a kick to the side. Then, they were both just gone.

  The next thing Galen felt was a series of shockwaves stemming from behind him. No doubt coming from Aleksi and Lusha fighting Morpheus and Callista.

  RUN!!! his mind screamed as his sense of self preservation hit him full force.

  These guys are complete monsters!

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