The fight that followed was chaos. Shino, Sara, and Erion's son, Kaelen, fought alongside the elven king, their combined powers barely enough to keep the serpent at bay. Kaelen, a warrior of unmatched skill, wielded his ancestral sword—a blade said to be blessed by the ancient spirits of Sylvanith. His movements were fluid, his strikes precise, but even his power seemed insignificant against the monstrous serpent.
Shino unleashed her shadow magic, her black flames wrapping around the serpent's body, burning it with a cold that defied nature. Sara, her dark elven magic swirling in tendrils of shadow and light, struck at the serpent's eyes, trying to blind it, if only temporarily. Together, they fought as one, pushing the serpent back step by step, but the Jormundra was relentless.
The battle raged for what felt like hours, the forest itself groaning under the weight of the serpent's destruction. But then, in a moment of terrible clarity, the tide turned. The Jormundra, with a final, devastating blow, struck Erion directly. The king's magic faltered, his body crumpling under the weight of the attack.
Shino's scream tore through the night as she watched the serpent's fangs sink into Erion's body, the poison spreading through his veins in seconds. The king fell to his knees, his staff slipping from his grasp as his lifeblood pooled around him.
Kaelen cried out, rushing to his father's side, but it was too late. Erion, the ancient king of the elves, was gone.
The Jormundra roared, its victory apparent, but at that moment, something shifted within Shino. The rage, the grief, the guilt from Catal—all of it coalesced into a single point. The black flames around her surged, fueled by an intensity she had never felt before. She became a blur of motion, her magic exploding from her in waves, and with a final, desperate strike, she plunged her blade deep into the serpent's eye.
The Jormundra recoiled, its body thrashing wildly as it retreated into the chasm from which it had emerged. For now, it was defeated, but not destroyed. The legend of the World Serpent was far from over.
As the serpent's presence faded, the silence that followed was unbearable. Shino, Sara, and Kaelen stood over Erion's body, their victory hollow in the face of their loss. The king of Sylvanith, the one who had guided Shino toward the truth of her power, was gone. And with him, the peace of the forest had died as well.
Kaelen knelt beside his father, his face a mask of sorrow. He had fought valiantly, but it wasn't enough. Nothing had been enough.
Sara stood motionless, her fists clenched, her eyes wet with unshed tears. She had always been the strong one, the unshakable warrior, but now, the weight of her grief threatened to crush her.
Shino looked at the devastation around them—the broken trees, the scorched earth, the lifeless form of the elven king—and felt the familiar weight of guilt settle over her. But this time, it was different. This time, she knew that her path had led to this, that her power—her very existence—was part of something much larger than she had ever imagined.
The war between gods and mortals had begun, and Shino, whether she liked it or not, the gods had the power and the numbers.
The Jormundra was an angel from what they called a heaven a being hiding within the elves; The gods had their puppets all around Terra.
As they carried Erion's body back to the village, Shino could feel the eyes of the elves upon her. They trusted her, believed in her strength. But now, their king was dead, and the future of Sylvanith lay in uncertain hands. The forest, once so full of life, now felt empty, its magic dimmed by the loss of its king.
Kaelen, his voice heavy with sorrow, spoke as they laid Erion to rest. "My father once said that the forest remembers... i-t it remembers the battles fought, the blood spilled, the lives lost… And now, it will remember him."
Shino stood beside Kaelen, her heart heavy with the weight of the battle and the death of the one who had shown her the truth.
"The Jormundra will rise again," she said quietly, her voice steady despite the turmoil inside her. "But we'll be ready."
Kaelen looked at her, his eyes filled with both grief and determination. "When it does, we'll fight it together."
And as the first drops of rain began to fall, Shino knew that this was only the beginning. The world was unraveling, and she was powerless, all the facts were blurred, she despite everything she knew there were missing keys.
The echoes of Catal had followed her, but here and now she had grown up a bit, she accepted what happened in that bloody night and decided to avenge. Not only the Akkadian. But the destiny threads that put her on this path.
As the rain drizzled lightly over the forest, Shino, Sara, and Kaelen stood near the village's sacred healing tree, the body of King Erion now resting beneath its roots. Grief still hung in the air, but it was laced with something else—exhaustion. Shino, though trying to maintain her composure, felt her legs wobble beneath her. Her head throbbed, and her vision blurred at the edges. Every breath felt heavier, as though the very air had thickened around her.
Sara noticed first, her sharp eyes catching Shino's unsteady stance.
"Shino… you're not well," she said, stepping closer, her brow furrowed in concern.
"I'm fine," Shino replied through gritted teeth, though even she could hear the lie in her voice. She tried to take another step, but her knees buckled beneath her, and she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. It felt like her magic was constricting inside her, twisting and knotting itself into something unbearable.
Sara knelt beside her, her hand on Shino's back. "It's the magic, isn't it? You pushed yourself too far."
Shino's head pounded, her vision swimming in and out of focus. She had felt drained after battles before, but this was something different. It was as if the very magic she had used to defeat the Jormundra was now punishing her, recoiling back into her body with brutal force.
Kaelen approached, his expression grim.
"She's experiencing arcane recoil," he said quietly, kneeling beside them.
"It happens when a mage uses too much power in a short period. The magic doesn't just exhaust the body—it can tear it apart if left unchecked."
Shino's eyes widened at his words. She tried to speak, to ask what he meant, but the pressure in her chest was too great. The shadow magic inside her was twisting violently, as though it was eating away at her insides, burning through her veins like ice and fire all at once.
Kaelen placed a hand on her shoulder. "We need to help her release the magic, or it will consume her. She's overdrawn, and her body is paying the price."