Umbra and Zara had finally recovered enough to move and were about to re-enter the castle through the hole they'd left behind when the entire structure trembled violently.

  The third and then the second floors, along with the roof, exploded and collapsed in a deafening roar. The castle was reduced to rubble, barely recognizable, and every entrance was buried beneath the debris.

  “Noooo!” Umbra roared, her voice echoing with anguish as she felt the surge of mana and the lingering shockwaves deep within.

  Zara stared at the destruction, her heart clenched with dread. Were the others safe? Was Father… was Xarion…? The worst possibilities clawed at her mind.

  “Umbra, do you sense anything?” she asked, her voice trembling, heart racing.

  “Kai is alive,” Umbra replied, her tone strained. “But his mana is very weak. I heard them preparing the attack… but what happened after, I don’t know.”

  “Let’s go around. Maybe there’s another way in,” Zara said, clinging to hope.

  Umbra grabbed her and took flight. As they soared around the ruins, they spotted Nerva and the others approaching.

  Zara leaped off Umbra and ran toward them. “Father! Xarion! You’re okay!” she cried, relief flooding her voice.

  Nerva smiled, grateful they were safe.

  “What about Kai and Liliya?” he asked, concern etched on his face.

  “They were inside. That explosion… it was probably them. But whether they are both in one piece…” Zara trailed off, uncertain.

  Umbra remained silent, too overwhelmed to speak. She focused on the bond she shared with Kai, unwilling to let it go, terrified of losing him forever.

  “We’re trying to find a way inside,” Zara explained.

  “There’s nothing that way,” Nerva said, sighing. “Everything’s blocked. If we try to force it, we might make things worse.”

  Xarion stepped forward. “Didn’t James mention an underground area? Maybe they escaped through there.”

  The group clung to that possibility, though worry lingered.

  Umbra finally spoke. “Kai is alive. I don’t know where he is or what condition he’s in. But if the mage girl was with him… he would’ve protected her. That much I know. All we can do now is wait and hope they find a way out.”

  She stared at the collapsed castle; dark stones scattered like broken memories. Hope was all she had left.

  Then she turned sharply, eyes narrowing. A humanoid wolf stood nearby.

  “Why do I smell the beast boy on you? Did you eat him?” she growled at Kran.

  Zara turned too, scanning him suspiciously.

  Kran laughed nervously. “It’s me, Kran. I followed you guys and… ended up like this.” He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

  Eira sighed and punched him in the ribs. He was now much taller than her, making his ribs a perfect target. “I’ll explain later.” She shook her head.

  “Ouch!” he groaned.

  “Let’s make camp and wait. It’s all we can do for now,” Nerva said, summoning a large military tent from his storage. He pulled out spare clothing and began setting up a campfire.

  “Does anyone need clothes? I’ve got plenty. Let’s sit and wait,” he urged.

  Kran grabbed a set and went inside to change. The others had their own.

  Umbra sat by the fire, her gaze fixed on the ruined castle, her mind locked onto the fragile thread of her bond with Kai.

  ***

  In the underground passage buried beneath rubble, Kai shielded Liliya with his body. His Blood Moon barrier flickered, but it held just enough to keep the debris from crushing them.

  He stared at the unconscious Liliya, sweat and blood dripping from his face onto hers.

  His body was slowly healing from the burns, and his draconic nature worked to purge the strange mana he had inhaled during Florian’s detonation.

  It would take time to recover to a manageable state.

  His blood and water mana flowed together, stitching his wounds and restoring his strength, bit by bit.

  In his inner world, Scry had fallen asleep. The spirit had expended a tremendous amount of mana casting the earlier spell and would need time to recover.

  As Kai looked at Liliya, he began to notice, really notice, how beautiful she was, even by Earth’s standards. His gaze lingered on her delicate nose, her pointed Eldari ears, and finally, her lips.

  Then, her brow twitched. Slowly, her eyes fluttered open.

  She found Kai’s face mere inches from hers, his breath warm against her skin.

  “Ahhh!” Liliya yelped, flustered. Her cheeks flushed crimson.

  “Sorry for scaring you,” Kai said, trying to stay composed. “There’s not much room. If I move, the barrier might collapse.”

  His heart pounded as he stared into her azure eyes.

  Liliya coughed awkwardly. “No, no, I’m sorry for screaming. And… thank you for saving me.” She blinked, avoiding his gaze.

  “I guess using that spell was a mistake, huh?” she chuckled weakly.

  “At least we finally killed that bastard,” Kai replied, his expression darkening. But it didn’t feel like a victory. He didn’t feel like he’d killed a human being.

  Was it because he hadn’t seen the man die? Or because he didn’t think of him as human?

  He wasn’t sure.

  “Say, Kai… how are we going to get out of here?” Liliya asked, scanning the cramped space.

  “There’s a tunnel east of here. I sensed it with my spirit sense. But we’ll need to work together to clear the rubble.”

  “I could create a wind tunnel to scatter the rocks and open a path,” she said, sighing. “But I’ll need at least an hour to restore my mana.”

  “I’m not sure how long I can hold this barrier,” Kai admitted, then caught himself staring at her again.

  “What are you looking at? I probably have dirt all over my face, don’t I?” she said, trying to deflect, though she wasn’t sure from what.

  Kai coughed. “Yeah… you’re really dirty. Anyway, I’ve got an idea.”

  His storage belt shimmered, and a large mana crystal appeared beside them.

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  “We can use this to replenish our mana and heal faster,” he said coolly.

  Liliya’s eyes widened. “Whoa, that’s an Ultra Mana Crystal. Aren’t you fancy?” She chuckled, growing more comfortable with his presence. She found herself staring at his face.

  He doesn’t look half bad up close, huh? Wait, what the hell am I thinking?

  Her heart skipped, and her ears turned red.

  “What’s wrong? Your ears are red,” Kai asked, concerned.

  “Nothing! Nothing at all! Mind your damn business!” she snapped, scooting back as much as the space allowed.

  “Let’s just channel mana. My core’s starving,” she muttered, changing the subject.

  Kai nodded, and together they began absorbing the crystal’s abundant energy, its glow illuminating the small space around them.

  ***

  On the far side of the rubble-choked passage, a red blob of blood slithered silently through the cracks. It moved slowly, leaving a glistening crimson trail in its wake.

  Eventually, the blood-like creature slipped into a narrow tunnel, descending deeper into the earth. It crept along the stone floor until it reached a pair of massive black steel doors, their surfaces etched with glowing white runes that pulsed with ancient power.

  The runes flared as the creature approached, casting pale light across its gelatinous form. After a tense moment, the doors groaned open, metal scraping against stone in a sound that echoed through the depths.

  The blood slime slid inside. The doors shut behind it with a heavy thud.

  The chamber beyond was vast and cloaked in darkness. Only the faintest glow from nearly spent light crystals offered any illumination. Shadows danced along the walls, revealing glimpses of a forgotten place.

  The creature moved with purpose, undeterred by the gloom. It slithered across the cracked floor until it reached a large magic circle carved into the stone. As it entered the circle, the runes flared to life, bathing the hall in a sudden burst of radiant light.

  Thick lines of pure mana surged outward from the circle, spreading like veins through the floor. The hall groaned as if awakening from a long slumber. Light crystals flickered, then blazed to life, revealing the chamber in full.

  It was an ancient laboratory, or perhaps a workshop, long abandoned. Shattered crystal containers littered the floor, their contents long since evaporated. Green tubes filled with a viscous, glowing liquid snaked along the walls, disappearing into the depths of the facility.

  No one knew this place existed beneath the ruins of the old castle. Perhaps only the late Florian had known.

  The red blob slid past the broken remnants until it found one container still intact. It slid inside, and as if recognizing its presence, the container sealed shut with a hiss. Runes on the top and bottom ignited, and one of the green tubes released its liquid, filling the chamber to the brim.

  Suspended in the fluid, the blood slime began to glow. Its form shimmered as it absorbed the strange substance, pulsing with renewed energy.

  ***

  Rubble rolled around them as Kai tried to create some space between the two, but with no luck.

  Liliya had to stay focused, absorbing mana from the crystal, while Kai relied on his draconic heart to draw in the mana and feed it to his core.

  She frowned as his body absorbed the mana at an outrageous speed.

  “Hey, you glutton! Leave some for me, too. Hmph.” She puffed her cheeks in frustration like a squirrel.

  “Sorry, my body absorbs mana instinctively. Draconic body sure is handy,” he chuckled.

  “Ha ha, poor you. Mister, I have a body blessed by one of the strongest races,” she said, clearly jealous.

  “What about you? Aren’t the Eldari one of the strongest races when it comes to mana control and magic?” Kai asked, recalling what Scry had once explained about why the Eldari were so feared.

  “Well, I’m only a half-blood, and my body’s smaller than a normal Eldari bastard,” she muttered, her mood souring at the thought of her mother’s kin.

  Kai frowned. “Sorry, I forgot you dislike them as much as I do.” He pushed down the memories of the Dawnbreaker’s war.

  “Yeah, it’s okay. They only banished us and killed my father. But you said they killed your master and his entire family. They tend to do that… though I haven’t heard of anything like that in recent history. When did your master die?” she asked, curious.

  The skills Kai used were so specific, she hadn’t seen anything like them in any of the records.

  Kai cleared his throat. “My master lived a long time ago. I stumbled upon his spirit. He approved of me and gave me his inheritance. He also left his memories of the slaughter for me to witness.” His tone grew somber.

  “Oh… I see. That explains why you reacted the way you did. If you lived through that, through his memories and legacy, and then saw an Eldari attacking your partner… I understand now.” She fell silent, reflecting. Maybe I misjudged him. He’s not as simple as he seems, she thought, sighing inwardly.

  Kai said nothing more. The weight of the conversation, and the stones pressing down on his back, was beginning to take its toll.

  They had to wait for Liliya to recover enough to cast her spell.

  ***

  A pure red child floated motionless in a container filled with green liquid, its body curled into a fetal position.

  The ancient chamber was silent, save for the low hum of magetech artifacts and the soft whirring of liquid flowing through tubes, feeding the crimson being suspended within.

  Time seemed forgotten here, the air thick with the weight of history and the eerie stillness of a place long abandoned.

  Then, a broken, feminine laughter shattered the silence of the ancient laboratory, echoing through the forgotten chambers of the underground ruin.

  The sound was jagged, like glass scraping against stone, unnatural and filled with pain.

  It rose and fell, twisting into a tormented scream that reverberated off the walls, as if the ruin itself recoiled from the anguish.

  “Keep sucking on my tit, you disgusting, disfigured bastard. How many times have you lost until now? Hahaha.”

  “Every time you come crawling back, needing to take more from me. Every time you come broken and disfigured further. You steal and scavenge like a fucking rat, you bastard.”

  The archaic, broken voice continued her barrage of insults as the crimson child slowly opened its eyes within the container.

  Bloodshot and wild, the eyes burned with hatred and madness, yet the child remained silent, too weak to respond.

  Suspended in the green liquid, it stared outward, its gaze unfocused, as the voice echoed through the ruin like a curse etched into the stone itself.

  “Cat ate your tongue? This time, you really did it, huh? You took so much, you actually managed to go further than your motherfucking ancestors, and you still lost. Just like them, you useless broken monster. “

  The voice, ancient and fractured, trembled with pain and fury. Yet beneath the rage, there was a twisted satisfaction; she reveled in the broken state of the bloody figure.

  “Look at you. Hahah, you even broke your soul, and for what? You sacrificed all those perfect beast souls to save this broken part of you.

  You are left with nothing; can you even rebuild this time? Are your enemies still alive? Why don’t you come to me? I can help you win, you know. I can give you even more power; you just need to kill me. I think that is a good deal, no?” The voice laughed again.

  “Kill me, you whoreson, kill meeee.” The voice screamed.

  The child closed its hollow eyes and continued to drift in the green liquid, unmoving. The voice raged on, echoing through the ancient ruin, its fury undiminished by silence.

  ***

  “Any news?” Nerva walked up to Umbra, who was still standing guard, waiting for Kai.

  Night had slowly fallen, and only the largest moon remained visible, casting pale light over the ruined castle and its dark stones.

  “His mana is growing stronger, but I can’t reach him. Something underground is blocking my messages,” she sighed.

  “It’s good that his mana is recovering. They might be healing somewhere below. Umbra, we can only wait, you know. Don’t think about trying to dig your way in,” Nerva warned, concerned for the loyal beast.

  “You worry about your pack, and I’ll worry about mine, blondie,” she snapped, staring him down, unwilling to hear any lectures.

  “No need to be testy. I care about both of them, too, you know.” He didn’t mind Umbra’s sharp words; he valued loyalty above all else.

  “You sure like to talk, huh? If you’re staying here, then hush and sit,” she growled.

  Nerva chuckled and sat on a stone beside her, gazing at the rubble and the starry sky.

  Behind them, the rest of the group was preparing a meal, relieved that the battles were over. But the air around the improvised camp was thick with unease.?

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