The blinding light, which had erupted with such sudden fury, vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind a ringing silence and encroaching darkness. Liam, shielding his eyes from the afterimages, struggled to his feet. His ears still rang, and his head swam. He tried to blink the spots from his vision, but the world around him was sinking into an oppressive gloom, as if someone had extinguished the sun.
"Elara!" he croaked, feeling the icy fingers of fear clutch at his heart.
There was no answer. Only the wind rustling through the broken branches of trees, and somewhere in the distance, the crackling embers of something burning. The smell of ozone and smoke stung his nostrils.
Suddenly, a voice echoed, cold and mocking, like ice scraping against glass.
"Such fools inhabit this world…" the voice whispered, each word dripping with sardonic amusement. "Did they truly believe they could stand against me?"
Liam shuddered. The voice seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere at once. He felt a heavy, piercing presence upon him, like the gaze of a predator selecting its prey.
The darkness deepened, transforming into a dense, viscous mass that seemed to try and consume him. Liam instinctively recoiled, but it was too late. The darkness enveloped him, seeping beneath his skin, filling his lungs with icy air. He coughed, choking in the suffocating void.
Elara… where are you… the thought flickered through his mind before consciousness faded.
The figure in silver armor, recovering from the initial shock, rushed towards the spot where Elara and Liam had been standing. Her energy blade blazed with brilliant light, ready to cleave through the darkness and rescue the boys. But as she approached, something made her stop.
A few feet from the swirling darkness, her body seemed to freeze. The sword, raised to strike, hung motionless in the air. The darkness surged towards her like a predatory beast lunging at its prey. The silver armor flared, shattering into tiny fragments like glass.
From beneath the ruined armor emerged a young woman, slender and graceful, clad only in her undergarments. Her eyes, wide with terror, reflected the swirling darkness. Fear, cold and paralyzing, gripped her.
In that moment, when all seemed lost, the amulet hanging on a delicate chain in the hollow of her throat began to glow. Faint at first, the luminescence grew brighter with each passing second, pushing back the encroaching darkness. The amulet, an ancient artifact passed down through her family for generations, had awakened, sensing the mortal danger threatening its bearer.
The amulet's radiance repelled the darkness, creating a protective cocoon of shimmering light around the young woman. The darkness hissed and writhed, attempting to breach the barrier, but to no avail. The power of the amulet was too great.
"What… what is this?" the voice whispered from the darkness, now devoid of its former mockery and confidence. A hint of confusion, and… fear?
The young woman, still trembling from the terror she had experienced, slowly raised her head. The amulet's glow illuminated her face, which now, besides fear, held something else – determination. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew she had to fight. For herself. For Liam. For Elara, who seemed to have vanished without a trace.
"I don't know who you are," she said, her voice trembling but firm. "But you will not get what you want. I won't let you."
The darkness swirled with renewed intensity, as if answering her challenge. The battle had just begun.