Mae stepped forward, her chains alive, sparking violet light that spilled across the ramp like liquid fire. The champion met her advance with a shriek, the hollow void in its chest pulsing like a second sun, a darkness so deep it threatened to swallow the ship whole.
Lucien stayed at her side, his white chains entwining with hers in defiance, but she felt the strain of it burning through him, threatening to pull him apart from the inside.
The Forgotten swarmed around them, endless, ravenous, their clawed hands tearing through steel as though it were nothing. The ship screamed with the weight of the attack, bulkheads groaning, alarms wailing in time with Mae's racing heart.
Ashar fought at the front, his blade aflame, every swing a bright arc that seared through the horde. Flames clung to his body, his armor glowing molten in the heat of battle, but the creatures kept pressing, throwing themselves into the fire willingly just to smother it with their numbers.
Riven soared overhead, wings battered, feathers scorched, yet he cut through the storm again and again, slamming into the enemy with bone-shaking force. He landed only long enough to slash open another creature's throat before leaping into the air once more.
Sethis was a shadow in motion, his eyes glowing with a darkness deeper than the void outside. Sigils flared at his fingertips, twisting and tearing through the Forgotten with every flick of his hand. His face was set in grim concentration, sweat pouring down his temple, but he did not falter.
Mae felt all of them fighting, all of them breaking themselves apart to hold the line. And still, the champion advanced.
It stepped fully onto the ramp, its massive body bending the steel beneath it. Its claws dragged sparks across the floor as its head tilted unnaturally to the side. When it spoke, the sound was a thousand voices overlapping in hollow unison.
"Fracture."
The name froze her blood. The word carried weight, knowledge, power. It knew her.
Her chains writhed violently, violet light surging without her command. She gasped, staggering back, but Lucien steadied her, his hands gripping her shoulders. His voice was harsh, his tone urgent. "Stay with me. Do not let it name you. Do not give it that power."
The champion lunged. Its claws came down, faster than anything that large should move. Mae threw her arms up on instinct. The chains shot out, weaving a shield of light just as Lucien's white chains reinforced them. The impact was deafening. The deck split under their feet, sparks spraying into the air, but the barrier held.
Mae cried out with the effort, her body shaking, every nerve screaming in protest. The vision pressed at her skull again, sharper than ever, fire and glass and ruin. She could not breathe. She could not think. She could only hold.
"Kaine…" she whispered. His name slipped from her lips before she realized it. His sacrifice still burned in her chest, raw and jagged. He had given his last breath to save her, and now she stood here, teetering on the edge of destruction.
Lucien's eyes snapped to hers, fierce and unyielding. "Then fight for him."
The words cut through her fear like a blade. She roared, violet chains flaring outward, shattering the champion's strike and blasting it back across the ramp. The smaller Forgotten were incinerated in the wave, their bodies collapsing into ash before they hit the ground.
Ashar shouted triumphantly as his flames surged brighter, feeding on the wave of Mae's power. Riven dove from above, his wings slicing the air as he struck the champion's head, forcing it to stumble. Sethis drove shadows deep into the breach, holding the swarm back for one more heartbeat.
But it was not enough.
The champion rose again, its chest void deepening, a spiral of nothingness spinning within it. Mae's heart lurched. That darkness was not just a weapon. It was a gate.
The void inside it began to spread.
The ramp buckled as reality itself tore open, jagged cracks racing along the floor, the walls, even the air. The hull screamed as if the ship itself was being pulled apart. Through the cracks Mae glimpsed not space, not sky, but a churning abyss of stars and shadows, the endless hunger that lived beyond the veil.
Her chains strained, reacting, burning violet brighter than ever before. She knew this feeling. She had seen this in her visions, in the moments before everything fell apart.
Lucien saw it too. His jaw clenched, his chains sparking white fire. "This is what it wants. You. It has been waiting for you to open the door."
"I will not," Mae whispered, though her voice shook. "I cannot."
The champion shrieked, its claws slamming down again, forcing her to her knees. Her vision swam. She could not hold it. Not alone.
And then Kaine moved.
Mae's eyes widened. She had thought him dead, his body lifeless on the floor, but now he stirred, dragging himself upright with agonizing slowness. Blood poured from his wounds, his skin gray and broken, but his eyes burned with golden fire.
"Kaine!" Mae screamed.
He staggered forward, every step a miracle, until he stood between Mae and the champion. His chest heaved, each breath a struggle, but when he raised his hand, golden light flared so brightly it rivaled her chains.
The champion paused, tilting its head as if in recognition. Kaine smiled weakly, blood staining his teeth. "Not her," he whispered.
The light erupted from him in a blinding wave, slamming into the champion with a force that shook the valley. The void in its chest flickered, shrank, and for the first time it recoiled.
Mae reached for him, tears streaking her face. "Kaine, stop! You will burn yourself out!"
He turned his head slightly toward her, eyes dim but steady. "Then let me."
The light consumed him. It poured from every wound, every crack in his skin, until his body was no more than a vessel of brilliance. The Forgotten shrieked and scattered, their forms unraveling in the radiance. The champion staggered backward, howling as the golden light seared its void heart.
Mae's chains flared in resonance, answering Kaine's power, but she could not reach him, could not save him. She screamed his name as his body collapsed, the light fading into nothing.
Silence followed, brief and terrible. The swarm hesitated, the champion wounded but still standing. Mae's sob echoed in the hollow quiet.
Then the champion lifted its head. Its void pulsed again, wider this time, and Mae felt the prophecy closing around her like chains.
The war had just begun.