As the sword unsheathed, its energy surged through the chamber, radiating a blinding light. My grip on the weapon tightened instinctively, and before I could fully comprehend what I was doing, I swung it. The energy within the blade erupted in a powerful wave, hurtling through the air. The spirit, still a distance away, froze in its tracks as the energy collided with it, consuming its dark form.
The spirit screamed, its voice piercing and unnatural, before dissolving into a cloud of black smoke that was quickly scattered by the force of the energy.
The barrier trapping Lucius and the others shattered in the same instant, fragments of shimmering magic falling like shards of glass before fading into nothingness.
I stood there, trembling, staring at the empty space where the spirit had been. The sword in my hand now felt impossibly heavy, and I dropped it with a resounding clang against the stone floor.
Ariel's cry broke through the deafening silence.
