Kaelen did not flinch as Kael tore through another line of soldiers below. The threads of tethered souls snapped one by one, yet his staff remained steady, the crimson runes weaving tighter as the bindings deepened.
The lieutenant at his side dared to speak again. "The Brand-bearer bleeds us dry. Every time his blade falls, a dozen of ours crumble. If the line breaks—"
"Then let it break," Kaelen said, his tone cutting like glass. "Every collapse feeds the void. He does not yet understand he is weaving my triumph with his fury."
The sorcerer lifted his staff high, and the sky itself darkened. A second ring of runes flared above the Fold, stretching from horizon to horizon like a chain of burning stars.
Beneath his breath, Kaelen whispered, "The gate widens."
Kael felt the air shift before he even saw the glow. His instincts screamed as if the world itself bent under a heavier weight. He cut down the last Veilspawn in his path, its body erupting into a shower of violet ash, and turned his gaze upward.
Above him, the circle of runes pulsed—vast, unending, swallowing the sky.
"What… is he doing?" Lyra's voice was tight, her bowstring trembling.
Selene's face drained of color. "That is not a spell of battle. That is a spell of passage."
"Passage?" Darric roared, slamming his shield against an enemy to make space. "To where?"
Isryn's runes flickered as she paled. "Not where. Who. He's summoning."
Kaelen's staff struck the earth. The ridge split, flames pouring from the cracks. Out of the darkness rose chained titans—ancient warriors bound in spectral iron, their eyes pits of endless shadow.
The lieutenant's voice faltered. "Lord Kaelen… those are the First Fallen. The ones buried beneath the Sovereign's wrath—"
"I am not their keeper," Kaelen murmured, his eyes alight with violet flame. "I am their liberator."
He extended a hand toward Kael across the battlefield, as though addressing him alone. "Come, boy. Show me if your flame can consume even these."
Kael's mark blazed like molten fire, his vision swimming red. Ashrend vibrated with a low, almost human hum in his grip. He took one step forward, then another, as the titans dragged themselves into the Fold, their footsteps quaking the ground.
Selene's voice cracked. "Kael—you can't fight that alone!"
But Kael did not answer. His eyes were locked on Kaelen, on the staff, on the sorcerer who bound the world in chains of crimson.
The blade in his hand whispered hunger. The Brand inside him roared.
Kael broke into a sprint, lightning tearing the ground at his heels.