Lost in a chapter

Chapter 2 - Two

The heat slammed into Tora like a wall as the shadows peeled away, revealing the vision Marthos had planted in her mind. Her eyes widened as the landscape unfolded. It was like stepping into a nightmare or hell. Rivers of molten lava carved fiery paths through jagged, blackened rocks, their bubbling echoes sharp and eerie in the stifling air. The acrid stench of sulphur burned her nose, and she quickly abandoned the idea of trying to block it out. You’ll have to get used to this. She moved cautiously, her boots scraping against the uneven ground. Shadows flickered on the rocks ahead, twisting and shifting as if alive. Their movements felt unnatural, almost deliberate. The ground trembled faintly beneath her feet, a warning that danger was near. Tora’s fists tightened. I hope this is the way.

Sylvain stood tall, his intense blue eyes burning with focus as he fixed them on the shadows coiling within the mounds. Good, he’s in the shadows, this shouldn’t take long, he thought, muscles coiled, ready to strike. Beside him, Solis stood, alert to his brothers next move, lightening at his fingertips beginning to flicker, its heat mirroring the air’s suffocating weight. Despite their differences, they were a force to be reckoned with. The Sylvarune name carried weight in Aetheris, striking fear into beings and creature alike.

But the Fayb wasn’t like other creatures. A creature born from magic, he wove desires into bargains, granting anything for a price. Few called him a fraud, but whispers spoke of his deceit. Capturing him was their best option.

Sylvain tracked the Fayb’s sudden movement, his sharp gaze locked onto the shifting silhouette in the shadows. To his advantage, he could see him, weaving eerily through. He signalled, Solis reacted instantly, electricity crackling in the air. The scent of the creature growing stronger as they closed in.

Then, it leapt towards them.

The Fayb burst from the darkness, fast, too fast. Solis lunged forward, lightening surging from his hands, slicing toward his target. The creature shrieked, the sound tearing through the air.

Sylvain didn’t hesitate. Fire and shadows curled around his hands, rushing forward, latching onto the Fayb’s limbs. It twisted violently, claws flashing, teeth bared. Sylvain held his lock on it, pulling it closer to him. The Fayb reached Sylvain and spat, a rich laughter coming from it.

“You Sylvarune fools.” The Fayb rasped, sharp teeth gleaming despite the strain in his voice. “Took you both long enough. Here for a deal… I can give you anything you like?”

Sylvain’s grip tightened. Shadows coiled around the creature’s throat, restricting air, pressing in like unseen blades. His voice was cold, final.

“We’re here for you.”

Sylvain released his powers, dark tendrils slithered from his palms, sinking into the Fayb, clawing through flesh. The creature convulsed, thrashing violently, its shriek twisting into something half choked and feral. I could end him now. Sylvain thought, watching the pathetic thing squirm.

The Fayb hacked violently, thick black gunk spilling onto the scorched ground. His chest heaved, the remnants of Sylvain’s shadows still lingering around him, like wisps of something hungry, reluctant to let go.

Sylvain narrowed his eyes, watching the creature struggle. His grip had loosened, but something inside him still burned. A deep, instinctual urge to finish what he started.

Solis watched him carefully. “Don’t,” he warned, voice low. “We need him alive, if you kill him, he will simply reappear elsewhere, with another life. We’d be chasing him all over again.”

The Fayb let out a strained laugh, the sound brittle and rasping. He wiped his mouth with the back of his clawed hand, smearing black residue across his skin.

“You two… truly are your father’s sons,” he mused, eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

Before either of them could respond, the Fayb retaliated, fast and strong, claws extended and swiped at Solis, sending him skidding across the rocks. Sylvain reacted instantly, releasing the shadows again to slow the Fayb’s unpredictable movements. Solis pushed himself upright, his gaze darkened with fury. He sent strikes of lightening towards the Fayb, knocking the slimy creature to the ground. Sylvain held him at bay while his brother unleashed on it. “What do you want? I’ll give you anything for free!” it screeched. Over time, the Fayb had amassed incredible power, yet against Sylvain and Solis, it was utterly outmatched. “You will give us what we want,” Sylvain said, his voice cold and unwavering, “and you will belong to Sylvarune.”

His words hung sharp as the tension between them. The Fayb, still writhing under Sylvain’s grip, let out a rasping laugh, defiance flickering in its eerie gaze.

“Belong?” it hissed, its voice raw with fury.

As Tora continued to press onward, the air grew heavier, hotter. The faint sound of clicking reached her ears, sharp and rhythmic, like claws tapping against stone. She froze. The clicking grew louder, surrounding her from all sides. Her pulse quickened. Something’s wrong.

The ground ahead shifted, and Tora took an instinctive step back as creatures burst from the shadows. They had long, serpent-like bodies covered in molten scales that shimmered in the fiery light. Their glowing orange eyes locked onto her, their movements erratic and predatory. One by one, they emerged, filling the narrow space ahead of her.

Tora didn’t have time to think. The first creature lunged, its claws scraping the ground as it hurtled toward her. She twisted sharply, ducking low as it passed, her instincts driving her to keep moving. Her breath came fast as another creature skittered toward her, blocking her escape. She pushed off the rocky ground, vaulting over the beast, her movements quick and precise despite the uneven terrain.

The air around her seemed to crackle as more creatures closed in, their molten bodies blending eerily into the landscape. Tora’s heart pounded as she darted left, then right, her steps quick and light as she searched for a way out. Move. Don’t stop. Find an opening.

Suddenly, she felt claws scrape against her back, followed by the searing pain of a bite on her arm. The creature’s serrated jaws burned like fire against her skin, its teeth sinking deep as she let out a cry. Desperation coursed through her as she twisted free, pulling herself from its grasp and stumbling forward. I thought the Oracle said I would be fine, what part of this is fine!

Her vision blurred, the heat and pain overwhelming her senses, but she couldn’t stop now. Tora’s shadowing ability flared to life, the edges of the world darkening as the creatures’ shrieks faded into silence. The suffocating heat vanished, replaced by cool, quiet darkness as her body twisted through the void.

Relief washed over her as the shadows released her, the solid ground beneath her steady once more. But the relief was short-lived. As her surroundings came into focus, her heart sank. She was still in Emberfell, and strong arms caught her before she could collapse, her chest pressed against a strong frame, the scent familiar. “Sylvain.” She managed to say before her eyes forced shut.

The sudden appearance of Tora in Sylvain’s arms broke the hold he held over the Fayb. Solis wanted to be at her side to protect her, but he had to keep the Fayb at bay. His hands at the ready to strike if the Fayb so much as twitched. “Move and I’ll make it a game to kill and hunt you until you have nothing left” Solis warned the Fayb. The Fayb didn’t dare push, he wasn’t willing to test the prince of deaths threat.

“Theanna!?” Sylvain’s voice ripped through the air, raw pain, something he never thought he could ever feel. His mate was hurt, healing her was all that mattered. So much blood. He thought as his hands covered her opened wounds. “You are weak, stay with me Theanna.” He whispered, holding her tight. Sylvain looked towards his brother who still held the Fayb under his watch. Sylvain released his leash of fire, wrapping it and locking it around the Fayb. They urgently needed a healer. Breaking the Fayb’s deal will need to wait. “So, the Sylvarune brothers have a heart after all,” it mused, amusement flickering in its eerie gaze as another cough racked its frame, spilling thick black gunk onto the scorched earth.

Sylvain didn’t react. He barely acknowledged the creature.

His entire focus was on her.

Her faint breath. The blood soaking into his hands. The unnatural stillness of her body pressed against his chest.

Solis, however, turned sharply, lightning flickering at his fingertips, his patience wearing thin.

“You want to test that theory?” he asked, voice smooth but edged with something violent.

The Fayb let out another laugh, this time weaker, its amusement curdling into something brittle.

Sylvain shifted, gripping Theanna tighter. They didn’t have time for this.

“We’re leaving,” he stated flatly, the command absolute.

Solis didn’t argue. Not now. Not when Theanna’s life hung on the edge of time itself.

The Fayb watched them go, its lips curling, even as the weight of Sylvain’s fire tightened around its limbs.

“Fate is cruel, Sylvarune,” it whispered after them. “And your mate is running out of time.”

As they shadowed out, darkness swarmed around Sylvain, black tendrils snaking toward the Fayb.

Curling. Tightening. Snatching.

In a calculated act of cruelty, his shadows ripped the creature from Solis’s grasp, dragging it into the void, not fully, not safely, but just enough. Enough to make it suffer.

The Fayb let out a strangled cry, limbs thrashing as the shadows held him at the very edge of annihilation.

Pain rippled through the creature’s form, a sensation of being torn apart and pieced together in the same breath.

Sylvain didn’t spare him a glance.

He knew what the Fayb was feeling. And he wanted him to feel it.

The world shifted, bending to his will, and in the next breath, they emerged in front of the healer.

Without hesitation, Sylvain flicked the Fayb toward his brother, a dismissal, a command, a warning.

Solis looked towards his brother, a Sylvain he had never seen before, he was different with her, gentle, scared. The thrashing sound from the Fayb broke his stare, shaking, gasping, defeated under Sylvain’s ruthless wrath.

But Sylvain hardly noticed.

The weight in his arms was all that mattered.

Theanna was barely breathing, her body too still, her pulse too faint against his skin.

His shadows tightened around her instinctively, cocooning her in his hold, his fury simmering beneath his ribs.

He turned to the healer, his voice low, cold, absolute.

“Heal her. Now.”

Not a request.

Not a plea.

A command.