Chapter 32: Echoes of Power The air crackled with the leftover energy like a jarring sound as Lance stepped down from the pedestal. The Heart of Dominion glowed dimly within the hold of his hand. His eyes bore a new intensity, as golden sparks flared each time he blinked as if the artifact's power was already part of him. Evelyn studied him warily with her daggers drawn still. "Lance, are you okay?" "I'm fine," Was his calm response tinged with something razor-sharp. "More than fine." Selena glanced at Vex, crossbow slung over her shoulder, and said, "He's glowing. That's not ominous at all." Vex smirked. "We've seen weirder." Evelyn wasn't convinced. "We need to move, but Lance, you need to keep control. If that thing is already twisting your mind—" "It's not," Lance cut in, his tone sharp. "I've got

Chapter 34: Into the Fire The statues, standing tall in the vast hall, seemed to keep watching Lance and his friends as they deciphered the glowing map laid on the pedestal. The air was charged, coiled with tension and anticipation through each of them as though each were a spring that had been coiled. The map pulsed with life, opening into places whose destination was marked by unknown glyphs. Each one an obstacle, a test ─ but also key to the larger system that Lance now knew they were a part of. "This map changes everything," Lance whispered, the intensity just below a shout, laced through his low voice. Selene folded her arms, her sharp eyes scanning the glowing network. "And it doesn't tell us what happens after we've connected all the dots. It can lead us directly into a trap." "Every step we take is a risk," said Evelyn, her voice oozing with determination, "but we cannot turn back now." Vex repeated the gesture of tapping his axe in his palm. "All right, well, wh

Chapter 36: Into the Lion's Den The campfire crackled in soft tones while the companions sat in a very tense circle, their minds heavy with the weight of what they were facing. Resting between them was that Heart of Dominion, with its faint pulsing light, beacon and warning at the same time. “Time is running out,” Selena said, severing the silence, her razor-sharp voice belying the shivering fear in the words. “With every step we take, someone is always two ahead. The Syndicate, James, and now these masked lunatics—they're all closing in.” Lance stared into the fire, his features unreadable. “Then we move where they can’t see it coming,” he said. His voice was calm, but they saw fury in his eyes. Evelyn frowned. “You mean the Ravenholm vault? That is a death trap.” “Precisely,” he answered. “No one would expect us to go there. Hence, it would be the ideal location to launch an attack.” The road to Ravenholm was perilous, winding among ragged cliffs and wreathed in cea

Chapter 38: The Weight of Defeat The chamber had settled into a spirit-weary silence where James had emerged, suffocating air and an acrid smell from burnt stone and defeat hanging thick. Lance pushed against the rubble to stand, all his muscles screamed in protest. Somewhere above his brow, blood trickled from a cut, but he simply let it run, eyes riveted to the very spot where his brother had been a few moments ago; the crystal was now gone from their grasp. Evelyn groaned and sat upright beside him. "Tell me we don't sit here and let the guy get away with it." With his jaw tightening like a drawbridge being sealed against enemy attack, the fury brewing inside him threatened to erupt. "Oh, he won't get away." A moment's pause, then, low and lethal: "Already bet there's blood over that kitten-faced murderer." Selena staggered to her feet, dust brushing off her cloak. "We cannot just blindly run after him. You saw those runes—James planned this. He is ten steps ahead of us

Chapter 40: A Fragile Victory If anyone could have fazed him, it would have been the escape from the Shadowspire. He still felt its weight as he held crystal in his hand, its pulsing light like a second heartbeat. The way back to the safe house was tense because the neutral city streets were as entitled to have been totally quiet; every shadow felt like the place an ambush was going to spring out of. They came into their hideout, which was a small room on the back part of the city, far from the crowd. The door closed behind them before Selena gave an exasperated groan and slammed her staff to the floor. "Let me guess," spoke Vex, slumping into a chair, "we're celebrating a victory that doesn't feel like one?" The sweat from Evelyn's brow has been wiped as she leaned on the wall. “We got the crystal, didn’t we? That’s more than I e