Jacob forced himself to stand despite ribs that screamed protest with every breath. The First Betrayer was still advancing slowly, giving them time to recover because it knew recovery would not matter."Different approach," Jacob gasped to Anna. "The artifacts together are not working. We separate them. Hit it from five directions simultaneously."Anna nodded despite obvious pain. They split the artifacts between them—Jacob taking three, Anna taking two. Moved to opposite sides of the creature and attacked in coordination.Five different beams of energy struck the First Betrayer from multiple angles. Not a single concentrated force but five separate assaults that should have been impossible to defend against all at once.The creature grew larger.Actually expanded, its form swelling to encompass the space where the attacks landed. The energy was not hurting it but feeding it, making it more present in physical reality rather than less."Interesting try," it said, its voice deeper now

Anna spoke before Jacob could. "I will do it. I will stay inside to seal the void.""No." Jacob's response was immediate and absolute. "Not happening. We find another way.""There is no other way." Anna was already gathering the artifacts, preparing to channel them. "Someone has to stay inside to maintain the seal. That someone is me.""We do not even know if this will work!" Jacob grabbed her arm, stopping her from channeling. "Marcus is guessing based on theory and what happened to my mother. This could kill you for nothing.""And if we do nothing, that thing kills everyone." Anna pulled free and gestured at the First Betrayer, which was watching their argument with obvious amusement. "Not just us. Everyone in Seron. Everyone the Darkness can reach. Millions of people."The creature was advancing again, having apparently decided their planning time was over. Behind them, the surviving fighters were regrouping but they looked broken. Maybe fifty people left out of hundreds who had en

Jacob's mother looked exactly as he remembered but also completely different. Her form flickered between solid and translucent, like she existed in multiple states at once and could not decide which to commit to."Mother?" Jacob's voice cracked despite everything happening around them."Yes, Jacob. I am here. Or what remains of me after fifteen years in this place." She smiled and it was his mother's smile despite the strangeness of her appearance. "I have been waiting. Fighting. Keeping him weak."The First Betrayer recoiled from her. Actually stepped backward, and Jacob realized the creature was afraid. Not much, but enough to notice."You should be dead," it said. "Consumed by the void or by my servant. No mortal can survive here for fifteen years.""I am not mortal anymore. Not fully." Jacob's mother gestured at her flickering form. "The void changes you if you stay long enough. Takes parts away and replaces them with itself. I am as much void as I am human now."Anna was staring.

The First Betrayer was against the void's deepest edge now. One more push and it would fall into the place where nothing returned. But it was fighting back with desperate strength, clawing at reality to maintain its position."We need more power!" Anna gasped. She was bleeding from wounds Jacob could not even see, injuries inflicted in dimensions human bodies were not designed to exist in.Jacob's mother was fading too. Her form flickering more rapidly, like she was running out of whatever force had kept her present for fifteen years. "The artifacts. You need to unite them completely. Not just channel them together but merge them.""That will kill whoever does it," Jacob said. "The power is too much for mortal flesh.""We are already dead." His mother smiled sadly. "The moment we entered the void, we gave up our lives. Might as well use what time we have left."Jacob looked at the five artifacts still connected to him through Marcus's channeling outside. They were separate pieces, pow

The merged artifact was still in Jacob's hands but it was dying. He could feel it breaking apart from the inside, structure failing after releasing more power than it was ever designed to hold."Jacob." Anna's voice was weak. "We need to leave. The void is collapsing."She was right. Without his mother to stabilize it, the gateway between realities was closing fast. Already Jacob could feel himself being pulled toward the physical world, the void rejecting his presence now that its primary purpose was fulfilled."The artifact," he said, looking at the weapon crumbling in his grip. "It is—""Dying. Let it." Anna grabbed his arm. "We go now or we stay forever."They ran. Or tried to—movement in the void was not like normal space, more like thinking about being somewhere else and hoping reality cooperated. The gateway was shrinking rapidly, the opening barely large enough for one person now."You first!" Jacob pushed Anna toward the closing gap."Together or not at all!" She grabbed him