Now the room seemed achingly silent as if it never was there at all; all oppressive weight of the Shadow King faded away. The air, once filled with malice, was now eerily quiet, with a faint residue of power on the walls. The light in the tome had faded and left only shadows. But despite the temporary armistice, Seraphine could still feel the dark pulsing at her very soul's depth, nipping away at her from within.
She knelt on her knees, shallow-breathing, protesting every inch of her body at the battle they had recently fought. But in the pit of her stomach, she knew there wasn't time for rest. The war isn't over.
The Shadow King's forces are still out there," Elara whispered, her voice tight with fatigue. She sank down on a stone bench nearby, staff shaking in her hand as she forced herself into a semblance of composure. "This was only a skirmish. A diversion, perhaps.
Seraphine nodded slowly, her eyes drifting towards the stone walls of the tower. For a moment, she permitted herself to rest, but only for a moment. She could still hear the darkness whispering in her mind, the Shadow King mocking her attempts with an insistent voice.
"You have only delayed the inevitable," he'd said.
The voice still echoed in her mind, like a cold blast of wind over an empty desert. And though they took this place, Seraphine knew that the Shadow King would not be deterred by so slight a setback. He had waited in darkness for so long, as still as stone, across the centuries as he waited for his turn to come again.
"We need to move," she said calmly, her voice level with the exhaustion that threatened to overcome her. "If the Shadow King's army is out there, we can't waste one more minute."
Garin, silently viewing the horizon through the broken windows of the tower, nodded in agreement. The very faint lines of a set grimace lay on his face, and sharp, unforgiving eyes scanned the landscape below. "The world's not going to save itself. We will have to strike before he is ready. The longer we wait, the stronger he'll become."
Seraphine stood up, straining her legs terribly to do so. She took a deep breath, steadying herself. The tome in her hands, she stood to her full height, its weight on top of her seeming heavier than ever. As a powerful ally in the battle against darkness, Seraphine well knew that it was far from invincible. She has seen how much toll it had given to Elara's magic, to Garin's strength, and even to her own resolve. The tome may be powerful enough, but not invincible-and it came at a price.
"We need a plan," Seraphine declared, piercing the sudden silence with her voice. "We can't just go charging forward without a plan in place. We must discover where the main forces of the Shadow King are gathering. We must know how to finally stop him.".
Elara closed her eyes; the weight of her magic weighed down on her with the presence of a physical body. "I can try to sense the flow of his magic," she said, her voice just barely above a whisper. "But it's going to take time, and the longer we spend here, the more likely we are to get caught. I can already feel remnants of his influence lingering in the air, and it's only a matter of time before his minions pick up the pieces.".
Garin clenched his fists. "So we will have to be fast then. Whatever happens, we have to strike before he is ready.".
"Agreed," Seraphine said, turning her attention to the altar. The dark runes on its surface had dimmed to a faint glow now, but she could feel the power beneath them- a thread that connected them to the Shadow King's empire's very heart. She had to find a way to sever that connection, at least weaken his grip on the world for good.
We will need help, then, Seraphine said after a moment. We cannot do this ourselves. We will have to muster the other factions-those who are still at war against him. But to do that, we will need Lysandra. She may possess the information we need.
Elara's eyes flickered with worry. "Lysandra's knowledge is immense, but it is also bought at a price. We do not know if she can be trusted or whether or not she wants to help."
Seraphine's stare hardened. "I am not asking for her trust. I am asking for her help. And I will do whatever it takes to get that.".
Saying nothing at all, Seraphine turned and headed for the door, her resolve buckling every stride. Garin and Elara trailed after her in silence, their footsteps matching hers for each move. They had gone too far to turn back now. The road ahead would be treacherous; dangers they could not yet fathom awaited them. Still, they could not halt now.
As they emerged from the tower, landscape lay before them, battle-like, with shadows still leached into the air like smoke on a smothered flame. The wind ran through the trees, and in its sighing it bore the whispers of a distant past. But Seraphine saw something else in the distance: movement. Figures robed in dark, eyes aglow with malignant energy; sakhals erupting from the very earth.
Seraphine's heart plummeted as she realized the danger that threatened her was so terrible, so dreadful. The Shadow King's minions had rallied faster than they thought.
"They are closing in," Garin whispered low and serious. "We will not make it to Lysandra unless we fight them off.".
Seraphine nodded. Her grip on her sword tightened. The moment for hesitation was over. "Then we fight. But now it is not for but a little time. We will take our stand here, but once these forces are dealt with, we must be gone. Lysandra is our only hope.".
Just when the first wave of shadow creatures rolled toward her, Seraphine felt the weight of the battle press down on her once again. Yet she could not retreat now. She would fight, but not just for herself this time around; this time around, for the future of a world hanging by a thread.
Crying out at the top of her voice, she launched into a charge, her flashing sword letting out rays of light in the fading day. Garin and Elara stood beside her, their swords upraised, their determination unbreakable. The shadow creatures let out a howl as they descended on them, but Seraphine and her companions gave way to no quarter.
For every step forward that darkness made, they stepped back by their power. They were not going to let Shadow King win. Not now.