The column of solidified shadow magic hurtled toward them with unnatural speed, tearing up the earth. It was pure destructive force, the opposite of the restorative magic Lysandra had released.
Hold! Kaelen mentally commanded, his voice a burst of hot, stable light in Lysandra's mind. He did not move, forcing himself to stand his ground even as the shadow approached.
Lysandra, trusting the connection implicitly, did not hesitate. She channeled the entire, immense wave of her water magic—the restorative power of the newly unsealed Heart of the Abyss—and directed it not at the shadow column, but straight into Kaelen.
The Soul Tide erupted. Kaelen felt the chill of the deep ocean rush into him, overwhelming his senses for a split second, only to be instantly absorbed by his core Solarian strength. He became a vessel, a living conduit where the two elements met.
"NOW!" Kaelen roared aloud, drawing his plain sword and pointing it at the approaching shadow.
Lysandra unleashed her second wave, guided by his command. The resulting energy wasn't simple water; it was the Sun-Brine Crystal Fusion, a weapon forged by their elemental romance.
A colossal, glittering bolt of energy shot from the tip of Kaelen's sword. It was half brilliant, searing gold, and half churning, crystalline blue, forming a spiraling beam of unified force.
The Sun-Brine bolt met Amon's Shadow Column head-on. The sound was deafening, a shriek of clashing magic that echoed across the plains. The shadow, which had devoured life effortlessly, recoiled with a terrible hiss. The Sun-Brine Fusion was the balance Amon couldn't touch—it was the world he had tried to destroy, now fighting back.
The collision was immense. Amon's Shadow Column shattered, sending fragments of dark magic raining down like shards of black ice. The Sun-Brine Fusion, though diminished, continued on, striking Amon with a flash of light.
Amon screamed—a dry, grating sound of agony. He stumbled, clutching his shoulder where the light and water magic had struck, instantly cauterizing and chilling the wound.
"Impossible!" Amon shrieked, his white eyes blazing with hatred as he looked up at the ridge. "The Sea Witch... bound to the Heir? This unnatural coupling... it is a blasphemy!"
Lysandra, breathing hard, felt the backlash of power and the raw, burning anger in Amon's mind. He is stronger than I predicted, Kaelen. And he knows exactly what we are now.
"We cannot kill him here," Kaelen projected. "He is too focused on the life he can draw from the ground. We need to lure him to Helios, where the ancient Solarian wards are concentrated. That is the only place we can contain the draining effect."
Kaelen turned his horse back towards the capital. Lysandra looked down at Amon, who was already recovering and drawing more life from the soil to heal his wound.
"Heir of the Sun, you run!" Lysandra called down to her uncle through the magic, her voice laced with challenge. "We go to the greatest source of power in your land! Come and take it, Amon of the Scorched Earth!"
She spurred her horse after Kaelen, the long, dark cloak billowing behind her. Amon, seeing the direction they took, let out a triumphant, rasping laugh that promised annihilation.
"To the Sunwell! Foolish children! You lead me to my throne!"