Corvis's heart raced as he watched the Hippogriff carrying Leon and Amon struggle and spin wildly in the sky, the two locked in a desperate battle on its back. Every twist, every lurch of the creature's wings sent them farther and farther from sight. 'Leon needs me.' But there was nothing Corvis could do from here on the ground; his magic wasn't enough to bring down a flying beast. Frustration burned in his chest as he scrambled down from the tree he had climbed to track their flight.
Landing with a soft thud on the forest floor, Corvis pressed his hands together, forming a quick, precise seal with his fingers. He murmured in the ancient 'Lorelit tongue', his voice calm but edged with urgency:
"Pray for the response of the earth soul, spirits of the forest. Let your song guide me."
As he spoke, a faint glow of magic flickered between his fingers. He placed them beneath his ears, letting the magical resonance sharpen his hearing, tuning into the symphony of the forest.
He closed his eyes and listened. The rustle of wind through leaves. The chirping of insects. The distant cries of night birds. Beneath it all, the faint huffing and snorting of a familiar animal, not far from where he stood. 'His warhorse.'
Corvis opened his eyes, following the sound through the trees. In the dappled moonlight, he found the black warhorse pacing nervously among the underbrush, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the night air. Relief washed over him. 'Good, at least this part of the plan worked.'
He approached slowly, whispering soothing words to the restless beast. Once the horse calmed, Corvis swung himself into the saddle and grabbed the reins. With a sharp tug, he turned the horse toward the direction the Hippogriff had flown.
"Come on," he whispered to the animal. "We have to catch up."
The horse galloped through the forest, branches whipping past in a blur as they burst from the dense trees into the open field. Corvis scanned the sky, heart pounding. 'There!' He spotted the dark outline of the Hippogriff just as it folded its wings, dropping from the sky in a clumsy descent.
But something was wrong. Even from this distance, Corvis could sense it, the tension, the panic in the beast's movements. His stomach twisted with dread. 'They're falling.'
Drawing Leon's sword from his belt, Corvis urged the warhorse onward. 'Faster. I have to get there in time.'
Before he could close the distance, a piercing, inhuman 'scream' ripped through the night.
'Amon.'
The sound hit Corvis's ears like shards of broken glass, and he doubled over in the saddle, gasping as pain exploded in his skull. The shriek was like nothing he'd ever heard before; high-pitched, unnatural, with a strange cadence that made his bones ache. It was a voice layered with ancient magic, laced with chaotic energy that clawed at his mind.
The Hippogriff let out a panicked cry of its own. With a frantic beat of its wings, it bucked violently, sending both Leon and Amon tumbling from its back. The beast didn't hesitate, once free of its burdens, it shot into the sky, vanishing into the night, desperate to escape the horrifying sound that had shaken it to its core.
Corvis's warhorse reared in terror, nearly throwing him off. He yanked on the reins, forcing the animal to halt, though it continued to stomp nervously, nostrils flaring. The boy gritted his teeth, fighting the pounding headache that threatened to overwhelm him. 'I have to move; Leon is still out there.'
He clutched his head, trying to block out the shrill, mind-piercing scream. It felt like his skull might split apart from the pressure, and his heart thudded in his chest like a war drum. Even so, Corvis forced himself to look up, peering through the haze of pain toward where Leon had fallen.
What he saw sent a chill through his bones.
Amon lay sprawled on the ground, writhing as if possessed. His wide-open eyes, nostrils, and gaping mouth all shone with a searing, unnatural light; a brilliant, blinding radiance that pulsed like a dying star. The light was so intense it illuminated the field around them, casting long shadows from the trees. It was as if Amon had 'swallowed the sun itself' and now struggled to contain its fury.
And beside him, 'Leon lay still, unmoving.'
The sight sent a jolt of fear through Corvis's heart. 'No, no, no. He can't be dead.'
The warhorse beneath him whinnied in panic, refusing to move any closer to the wizard. Its eyes rolled back, and it pawed at the ground, desperate to bolt. Corvis had no choice. He slid off the saddle, landing awkwardly but without hesitation. The horse, freed from its burden, reared and galloped away into the forest, disappearing into the darkness.
Corvis crouched behind a rocky outcrop, pressing his hands to his ears in a vain attempt to block out the scream still ripping through the night. 'Just hold on, Leon. I'm coming.'
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the shrieking stopped.
The sudden silence was deafening. Corvis lowered his hands slowly, panting from the pain and exhaustion that weighed on him like lead. His head still throbbed, but he forced himself to crawl out from behind the rocks and into the open field.
What he saw chilled him to his core.
Amon knelt on the ground, his body eerily still, as if frozen in place. The radiant light that had blazed from his eyes and mouth was gone, leaving only empty, dark sockets that seemed to devour the surrounding light. A strange, unsettling aura lingered around him; 'a ripple of magical turbulence' that twisted the very air, making the space around him shimmer like a heat mirage.
It was as though reality itself was rejecting Amon's presence, as if the wizard's magic had warped the world beyond recognition.
Corvis's breath hitched, fear clawing at his chest. 'This is wrong. Nothing should feel this… broken.'
But then his eyes landed on Leon, lying still and pale on the ground beside Amon. Panic surged through him. 'Leon.'
Ignoring the trembling in his limbs and the warning screams from his instincts, Corvis forced himself forward. Every step felt like wading through a storm 'the chaotic magic pouring from Amon pressed against him like a wall, thick and suffocating.' It invaded his senses, filling his lungs with the weight of something ancient and malicious. His entire body screamed at him to turn back, to run, to save himself.
But he didn't stop. 'He wouldn't leave Leon behind.'
Sweat poured down his back as he staggered toward his fallen companion, every step a battle against the invisible storm of magic swirling around them. 'Just a few more steps.' His knees wobbled, and his vision blurred, but he gritted his teeth and pushed on.
Finally, he reached Leon. Without a moment's hesitation, Corvis knelt and heaved the boy onto his back, ignoring the searing pain in his muscles and the dizzying swirl of magic that made it feel like the ground was shifting beneath him.
"Come on," Corvis muttered under his breath. "We're getting out of here."
With Leon draped over his back, Corvis turned and stumbled away from Amon, the chaotic magic snapping at his heels like a vicious storm. Every step felt heavier than the last, but he didn't stop. 'He couldn't stop.'
As they fled into the forest, Corvis cast one last glance over his shoulder. The twisted air around Amon shimmered like ink swirling in water, his still figure at the center of it all 'a puppet, empty and lifeless, but dangerous all the same.'
Whatever Amon had become, Corvis knew they had only narrowly escaped the worst of it.
And somehow, the fight was far from over.
The moment Corvis felt even the slightest bit of relief, it was drowned out by instinct: 'Run. Don't stop. Keep moving.' With Leon slumped across his back, he sprinted through the wilderness, panting, every muscle in his body screaming in protest.
He didn't dare slow down. 'Amon could be behind us. He could recover. He could be anywhere.'
When he reached the warhorse, Corvis wasted no time. He murmured a spell under his breath, and with a shimmer of magic, Leon's limp body was lifted onto the horse's saddle. Corvis nearly collapsed from the effort, his vision dimming at the edges, but he grabbed the reins with trembling hands and forced his legs to move.
'Just keep going. Just a little farther.'
The uneven terrain stretched endlessly before him; rugged hills, twisting paths, and jagged rocks that tore at his boots. The night swallowed everything around him, leaving only the sound of his ragged breathing and the steady clomp of hooves on the dirt path. 'How long had he been running?' Minutes? Hours? He had no idea.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Corvis staggered to a halt atop a small rise. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, his body trembling from exhaustion.
He didn't care about the ache in his limbs. His only concern was Leon. Turning back to check on his unconscious companion, Corvis pressed a hand to Leon's neck. The pulse beneath his fingers was faint, 'too faint.' Leon's breath was shallow, little more than a whisper of air against the night.
Panic clawed at Corvis's chest. 'He's slipping away.' He ran through every option in his mind, every spell he could recall, but there was no time for anything elaborate. 'I have to do this now.'
Without hesitation, Corvis touched the glowing magic pattern etched along his wrist, activating the flow of energy. He gripped Leon's cold hand tightly, pressing their palms together, and channeled what little magic he had left into his friend's body. A soft glow pulsed between them, and Corvis could feel the magic draining from him; slipping away like water from a cracked jug.
The weakness hit him like a hammer. His vision blurred, and his knees buckled beneath him. His head swam with dizziness as the last drops of his energy trickled into Leon.
And then everything went black.