Zone Nine felt like a graveyard.
Liam moved through cracked stone with his sword loose in his hand. The canyon was wide and broken, jagged cliffs, leaning towers, ash drifting like gray snow. No cover, no sound, just heat and breath.
Seven bonded wives followed.
Rena walked closest, blade out, shoulders tight. Kaelyn mirrored her on the other side, dagger flashing once before vanishing. Sarya kept rear guard with her crossbow and a scowl, mostly for Elyra. Vexa prowled just behind Liam, boots loud, eyes on the siren. Elyra stayed near, calm and graceful, silver eyes on him, fingertips brushing his arm like she belonged there. The Ice Queen took the back alone, frost whispering underfoot. Kaelith, newest in the circle, ran point, red braid snapping, twin blades bare.
"The canyon narrows," Kaelith called. "Feels like a setup."
"Of course it is," Sarya said.
"Must we listen to her," Elyra murmured.
"Don't start," Rena snapped.
"Both of you, quiet," Vexa growled.
Liam stopped. Everyone halted.
"This ends now," he said.
Seven sets of eyes. No flinching.
"You fought for your place. You earned it. Keep fighting each other, and none of us survives."
Elyra smiled, faint and beautiful. "I don't see a problem."
"You will," the Ice Queen said, frost hissing.
Kaelith leaned on a crumbling wall. "You bond well, maybe too often."
"He picked what was left," Sarya muttered.
"I chose strength," Liam cut in. "I chose survival. You follow me, or you walk."
Silence held, tight as a wire.
Rena moved first. "I follow."
Kaelyn shrugged. "For now."
"I follow power," Vexa said.
Sarya seated a bolt. "Just don't let us down."
The Ice Queen gave a small nod. "For now."
Elyra brushed his arm. "I follow, because I want to."
Kaelith's mouth crooked. "I follow the fight. And it's coming."
"Good," Liam said. "Let's meet it."
The system hit, clean and cold.
> [System Alert]
Zone Nine: entered
Status: contested territory
Enemy Overlord: raid preparing
Time to attack: 1 hour
Bond count: 7 / 99
Loyalty sync: 62 percent, stable
Objective: survive raid, defend territory, hold power
They reached the center as the first horn rolled through stone, low and iron deep, thunder under their feet. The old battleground waited, cracked pillars, shattered walls, just enough cover to matter, plenty of open ground to die in.
"We defend here," Rena said, planting her feet.
"I don't run," Vexa added, knuckles popping.
"Finally," Kaelith murmured, blades humming. "A real fight."
Sarya climbed a broken column, found a perch, drew a bead. "East ridge. Twenty… no, more."
The Ice Queen stepped forward, frost crawling over the canyon floor. "Let them come."
"They're many," Elyra said softly.
"Then we break them," Liam answered. "Positions."
> [System Alert]
Incoming raid: 43 raiders
Raid leader: Overlord Sorek, Chainmaster
Danger level: high
Loyalty: 65 percent, stable
Zone status: critical
Buffs active:
• Unbreakable Core, Vexa, strength and durability up
• Veil's Insight, Elyra, perception and charm immunity up
• Frost Dominion, Ice Queen, terrain control
• Blade Mastery, Kaelith, critical boost
• Assassin's Reflex, Kaelyn, dodge and trap sense up
• Trapfield, Sarya, deployable kill zones
Dust rose along the ridge. Raiders poured over the lip, chains, jagged metal, masked faces, ugly weapons. At their head, a giant in rusted iron, chains wrapped around both arms, eyes burning red beneath a barbed helm.
Sorek raised one hand. The chains snapped taut with a sound like breaking bone.
"Overlord Liam," he boomed. "You have what I want."
"You can't have it," Liam said.
Sorek laughed. "Then I'll take it."
The raiders charged.
"Now," Liam barked.
Kaelith hit the front first, a flash of steel carving a lane. Vexa slammed into the center like a thrown boulder, bodies lifting, chains snapping. Rena anchored Liam's right, every stroke precise and final. Sarya's bolts found throats and knees. The Ice Queen sheeted the ground with frost, the rush broke into stumbles. Kaelyn ghosted through gaps, knives whispering, always where eyes weren't. Elyra stayed close, voice in Liam's ear, warnings one breath before danger.
"Left," Elyra breathed.
Liam pivoted, his blade met iron. A chain scythed past his cheek and tore a line in the dust. Sarya's wires flickered near a fallen pillar, three raiders hit the line, ice climbed their legs, Kaelith was there a heartbeat later, blades finishing what frost began.
Sorek came down the slope, slow and heavy, each step carving a groove, chains shrieking. He swung, the first arc took five of his own men off their feet, the second came for Liam.
"Move," Rena snapped, dragging him clear. The chain smashed a column to razors.
Liam cut forward, Frost Dominion humming under his boots, ground firming where he planted. He brought his sword up, met iron, sparks bursting.
"Your bonds are weak," Sorek laughed.
"They're mine," Liam said, and pushed.
The flash freeze under Sorek's feet stole his balance. Vexa roared past Liam's left, shoulder first into Sorek's side. Kaelyn's knife found the seam behind his knee. Sarya's bolt punched his shoulder joint. Kaelith crossed his chest with twin cuts, fast as breath.
Sorek staggered, then surged, both chains whipping wide. One caught Liam across the ribs, breath vanished. He hit stone, vision flared white.
Elyra's hand found his collar, yanked him up before the next chain fell. "Up," she said, calm as a prayer.
Ice lanced from the floor, dust to winter under the Queen's will. Sorek's boot stuck for a heartbeat. Enough.
Rena cut a bright line across his chest. Kaelith stepped into his shadow and carved the second. Vexa wrapped a chain around her forearms and tore, muscle like braided cable. The link screamed and snapped.
"Now," Liam said, and the word slammed the door.
He planted, ice set underfoot, shoulders square, sword high. He drove straight through Sorek's centerline. Steel hit true and rang the canyon.
Sorek sagged.
Liam ripped the blade free, turned the cut, finished it clean.
The Chainmaster fell.
> [System Alert]
Raid complete, victory
Loyalty boost: 71 percent
Territory secured
Salvage available
Zone Ten unlocked
Warning: rival Overlord detected ahead
Note: unknown feminine signal persists, central tower, watching
Silence slid back into the canyon, broken only by thawing frost and settling chain.
Rena wiped her blade. "Well led."
Kaelith flicked blood from a knife, smiling sharp. "Not bad."
"Next time," Vexa said, rolling her neck, "let me hit first."
Sarya reloaded by reflex, then finally stopped scowling. "Still breathing."
"Barely," Elyra murmured, brushing dust from Liam's shoulder.
The Ice Queen watched the far ridge, eyes on heat shimmer and banners. "It is not over."
Liam looked past her to the pulse of Zone Ten on his map, cold, bright, waiting.
"No," he said. "It's just beginning."
He slid his sword home, took one slow breath, and started walking. The others fell in, close, quiet, a line of heat cutting through ash.
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