The Troll-King came over the ridge.
Its steps shook the ground. Each footfall crushed the glowing crystalline grass beneath its weight. The creature stood nearly twenty feet tall. Thick cords of muscle bulged across its body, hardened like stone. Dark purple skin stretched over its frame, cracked like old rock that had endured centuries of storms. Jagged plates of bone jutted from its shoulders and ran down its spine.
The Troll-King opened its mouth and roared.
The sound rolled across the ridge like a violent wave. The air trembled under the force of it. Loose crystal formations scattered across the slope shattered into fragments.
Behind the giant came the Goblins.
Dozens of them poured over the ridge. Their movements were fast and chaotic as they scrambled across the slope in uneven packs. Their hunched bodies leaned forward while long arms dragged across the ground. Their skin was pale grey, stretched tight over narrow bones. Yellow eyes burned in the dim light.
Rust-covered knives and hooked spears scraped against the crystal surface as they climbed.
Elias stood still and watched them approach.
His breathing was steady but heavy. Years of training ran through his mind as he studied the battlefield. The ridge offered little cover. The slope was steep but not steep enough to slow the swarm. And the Troll-King made a direct confrontation impossible.
He turned toward Vaelira.
She stood near the edge of the ridge as if the approaching army did not concern her. Her silver hair shifted slightly in the strange wind that moved through the alien landscape. Her armor was smooth and pale, shaped for speed rather than heavy protection. The long spear in her hand emitted a faint white glow.
Elias bent down and grabbed a sharp shard of crystal from the ground.
The fragment hummed faintly with energy. Warm light pulsed through its interior.
"I don't trust your city," Elias said. His voice was rough. "And I don't trust anything about this world."
The Goblins were halfway up the ridge now.
Behind him, Chloe stood with her arms wrapped around herself. Her torn silk robe clung to her skin in the cold air. Her breathing came in short bursts as she watched the creatures climbing toward them.
Elias continued speaking without taking his eyes off the enemy.
"We don't know the rules here. We don't know the enemies. But if we follow you, you teach us how to survive."
Vaelira looked at him in silence.
For a moment she studied his face, measuring the seriousness in his voice. Then she gave a small nod.
"Agreed."
She lowered the butt of her spear and slammed it into the crystal ground.
A burst of silver light exploded outward.
The flash spread across the ridge like a sudden sunrise.
The Goblins screamed instantly. Many dropped to the ground, clutching their faces. Their yellow pupils burned under the intense light. Several rolled across the slope in pain.
The Troll-King lifted a massive arm and shielded its eyes with its forearm.
Vaelira moved.
She launched herself forward off the ridge.
Her body cut through the air with incredible speed.
Three Goblins reached the top of the slope first. They raised their blades and screamed as they lunged toward her.
Vaelira's spear thrust forward.
The glowing blade drove through the first Goblin's throat. The weapon punched out the back of its neck. She pulled the spear free in one motion.
She spun immediately.
The spear blade slashed across the chest of the second Goblin. Bone showed through the deep cut as the creature collapsed.
The third Goblin leaped toward her.
Vaelira stepped forward and drove her foot into its chest. The impact sent the Goblin flying backward into two others climbing behind it.
More Goblins reached the ridge.
Vaelira stepped directly into the swarm.
Her spear moved in fast, precise strikes.
One Goblin lost its arm when the blade sliced through the shoulder joint.
Another was stabbed directly through the eye.
Two more collapsed with their throats cut open before they could swing their weapons.
The swarm pressed forward.
A Goblin jumped onto her back and wrapped its arms around her neck.
Vaelira grabbed its wrist, twisted sharply, and flipped the creature over her shoulder. Its skull struck the crystal ground with a sickening crack.
More Goblins climbed past the bodies of the fallen.
Vaelira drove the spear forward again and again.
One creature fell with its chest pierced. Another collapsed after the spear punched through its ribs. A third tried to grab the weapon but lost three fingers when she pulled the blade free.
The slope became covered in bodies.
Then the Troll-King reached the ridge.
Its enormous fist crashed into the ground.
The impact shook the entire hill.
Vaelira was thrown backward several meters as cracks raced across the crystal surface.
The Troll-King roared again and raised both fists.
Vaelira rolled across the ground and pushed herself to her feet. She wiped a streak of dark blood from the blade of her spear.
"Get on the Strider!" she shouted.
The six-legged Void-Strider crouched nearby. Its long body resembled a powerful hunting beast. Dark armored plates covered its back. Beneath its skin faint blue veins glowed with slow pulses of light.
Elias grabbed Chloe and lifted her onto the saddle.
She climbed onto the creature's back and grabbed the thick leather straps.
Elias jumped up behind her.
Vaelira ran toward them but stopped suddenly.
Four large Goblins dropped down from the ridge behind her.
These were bigger than the others. Bone armor covered their torsos, tied together with twisted metal wire. Their weapons were heavier.
One of them swung a massive cleaver.
Vaelira ducked.
The blade cut through the air inches above her head.
She thrust upward with her spear.
The glowing tip drove through the Goblin's jaw and into its brain. The creature collapsed instantly.
Another Goblin rushed forward with a roar.
Vaelira stepped aside and slashed low. Her blade cut through both of its legs in a single motion. The creature dropped to the ground screaming.
A third Goblin slammed into her with a wooden shield.
The force pushed her several steps backward.
The fourth Goblin lunged with a rusted spear.
Vaelira caught the weapon in her hand.
The metal pierced her palm slightly, but she did not react. She twisted the spear out of the Goblin's grip and drove it into the creature's stomach.
Then she turned and thrust her own spear through the shield bearer's chest.
Behind her, the Troll-King bent down and lifted a massive boulder from the ridge.
"Now!" Vaelira shouted.
She leaped onto the Void-Strider.
The creature exploded forward the moment her weight landed on its back.
The Troll-King hurled the boulder.
It smashed into the ridge behind them. Crystal fragments blasted outward as the ground shattered.
The Void-Strider ran across the plains at full speed.
Its six legs moved with smooth precision as it crossed the uneven terrain.
They raced through fields of glowing crystal plants and over cracks in the earth where purple magma flowed slowly below the surface.
Chloe held tightly to Elias as the creature jumped across a wide chasm.
Wind roared past them.
Minutes passed before the landscape began to change.
The crystal plains slowly disappeared behind them.
Dark trees appeared ahead.
Their twisted roots crawled across the ground like tangled cables. Pools of thick silver liquid covered the marshland between them.
Mist drifted through the forest.
The Void-Strider slowed its pace.
The air felt heavier here.
Vaelira held her spear upright as they entered the swamp.
"The Whispering Marshes," she said quietly.
Elias scanned the fog carefully.
"Looks worse than the ridge."
"It is."
They moved deeper between the trees.
The only sound was the quiet stepping of the Void-Strider.
Then faint whispers began to fill the air.
Chloe frowned.
"Something feels strange."
Her voice sounded clearer.
She blinked several times. Her vision sharpened. She could see small glowing lights drifting between the trees.
"Dad," she said slowly. "I can feel the air moving."
Vaelira glanced back.
"The Aether here is strong," she said. "Do not focus on it."
"What happens if she does?" Elias asked.
"The marsh will show her things."
"What things?"
"Anything that can make her step off the Strider."
Chloe heard something then.
A familiar sound.
Her mother humming softly.
The same melody Elena used to sing while cooking.
Chloe turned toward one of the silver pools.
She looked into the surface.
The reflection changed.
Instead of the marsh she saw her bedroom. Her ring light glowed brightly. Her phone screen showed thousands of viewers flooding a livestream chat.
Messages filled the screen.
Her followers were calling her name.
Her hand slowly reached toward the water.
Elias grabbed her shoulder.
"Eyes up," he said firmly.
Chloe blinked.
The vision disappeared.
"Sorry," she whispered.
Vaelira suddenly pulled the Void-Strider to a stop.
Her entire body went still.
"Something is watching us," she said.
The mist shifted ahead of them.
Two violet eyes appeared in the darkness.
They were large.
Too large for a Goblin.
The eyes moved closer.
A tall, thin figure stepped out of the fog. Its body looked like stretched skin wrapped around long bones. Its arms dragged along the ground. Its head hung low between narrow shoulders.
Another pair of violet eyes appeared behind it.
Then another.
Three Marsh Stalkers emerged from the mist.
Vaelira slid off the Strider.
"Stay here," she said.
The first Stalker rushed forward.
Its long arm swung toward her head.
Vaelira stepped aside and cut through the limb with her spear. Black blood splashed across the ground.
The creature shrieked but attacked again with its remaining arm.
Vaelira drove the spear straight into its chest.
The second Stalker leaped toward her back.
She spun and kicked it away before its claws could close around her.
The third creature moved faster than the others.
It grabbed the shaft of her spear.
Vaelira released the weapon instantly.
She pulled a short blade from her waist and slashed across the creature's throat.
The Stalker collapsed.
The second creature lunged again.
Vaelira grabbed her spear from the first corpse and thrust forward.
The blade pierced through the Stalker's skull.
The final creature hesitated.
Vaelira walked slowly toward it.
The Stalker screamed and rushed her.
She stepped aside and drove the spear upward beneath its jaw.
The creature collapsed beside the others.
Silence returned to the marsh.
Vaelira wiped the black blood from her spear and climbed back onto the Void-Strider.
"We m
ove," she said.
The creature continued deeper into the fog.
Behind them, somewhere far inside the marsh, something enormous shifted slowly beneath the silver water.