Chapter 41: An Unexpected Alliance Below the amber light of the descending sun, Lance stood on top of the crumbled remains of a once-great citadel. The ruin is what brought Lance here, to this stark, wind-swept plateau, perched on the edge of a ravine that ended nowhere and seemed to stretch into oblivion. And, as he looked over the jagged cliffs, his thoughts were anything but on that of the artifact that had sent him here. No, his attention was focused entirely upon the letter he held in his other hand-a missive delivered to him by some courier who vanished the moment the scroll was handed over. Lance recognized the seal immediately. It was the House of Dreyner, a family with a powerful syndication, and second only to the faction James had on his side. He had thought the family of Dreyner was against him but this note gave him a different thinking.

Chapter 43: Shadows of Resolve The forest now had an ominous silence, after the din they had just been saved from. Lance and Kiera trudged on, their strained jealousy so evident between them while only the muffled squelch of leaves under boots remained as the energy being's roars had long faded into the distance. Kiera broke their silence. She ran a hand through her hair and said, "Okay. No more running. What's the plan? Because whatever that thing was back there, it is not going to stop itself." Lance didn't respond immediately. He fixed his eyes on the indistinct jags of clear moonlight cutting across the dense canopy overhead. His thoughts hustled and pushed through more and more possibilities. As they drifted off, he lifted his voice-blended fire with calmness. "We need answers. That creature was tied to that artifact, and it

Chapter 45: Ripples of Power The heart of Ether lay in Lance's hand, he could feel the unadulterated energy pulse singing in rhythm with his heartbeat, each pulse-throbbing beat brought warmth surging through his veins, invigorating him and sharpening his senses. It was exhilarating, yet overwhelming, as if the artifact was assessing whether he was worthy of wielding it. Kiera stepped closer, her expression a mix of awe and wariness. “You’re glowing.” Lance blinked, looking down at himself. A faint shimmer surrounded him, a soft, ethereal light that seemed to ebb and flow like a living thing. Coming mostly from a drawl, he muttered, "I guess it comes with special effects." “Special effects or a big bull’s-eye painted on one's back,” Kiera came back. “Hopefully we aren’t blaring our coordinates to the nearest power-crazed wannab

Chapter 47: Echoes of the Forgotten Past The pathway through Whispering Woods was long and eerie-in silence. It was rustling leaves above and the calls of distant creatures unseen below. Lance has taken the lead with his well-placed steps, senses in high alert, when glancing back every now and then added uneasiness to Kiera's footsteps. Elias seemed to fit into the whole picture, gracefully wandering around the twisting paths with an almost unnatural ease. "I don't like this," Kiera muttered to herself. "It simply doesn't feel right, too quiet for even a cursed forest." Lance gave a nod, agreeing, for he could feel her weighty words; in the air, there was that unnatural something, that pressed the deeper they went. His hand tightened around the hilt of his sword, with instincts yelling for him to be prepared. A sudden wind s

Lance, Kiera, and Elias stood together on the edge of the crumbling ruins of Lysander, the silence stretched around them in a thick oppressive shroud-the kind against which it felt hopeless even to fight. The first trial had been rough, but they went through it. There was no sense of triumph, however, only the biting knowledge that things would get murkier. Kiera swiped perspiration from her brow, her ever-watchful microlenses scanning the surroundings with a wary precision. ”So, what goes next, Lance? You have that look again.” Lance grinned with that captured gaze piercing ahead. "The trial isn't over yet." He turned to look at the huge, dilapidated temple that loomed farthest away. "That's where the real trial begins." Elias, still recovering from their previous exercise, sighed. "Great. And here I thought we already