The final steps burned with torment. Heat seared their lungs, sweat clung to their skin, and an oppressive tension made the ruins feel alive, resisting their escape.
They reached an ancient wooden door, sealed tight despite its age. Shin pressed his palm against it, sensing a faint pulse.
"This is it. The connection... it's here."
He struck the wood with clenched fists, the impact echoing through the chamber. Dust shook loose from the ceiling, but the door held firm.
"Magic," Laverna whispered, her eyes narrowing. She touched the wood beside Shin's hand, revealing a shimmering glyph.
"A barrier. I sense its mana—ancient, tightly woven, but not unbreakable. Give me a moment."
Shin stepped back as Laverna closed her eyes, tracing the barrier's magic. Her crest glowed softly, mana threading through her fingers as she etched a counter-sigil.
The barrier dissolved with a gentle pulse. The glyph faded into nothing.
"Now," she said.
Shin spun, driving his heel into the door. The wood shattered, revealing a blazing wine cellar, its shelves consumed by fire and smoke choking the air.
"Damn it," Shin growled. "The estate's burning."
They raced up the stairs, coughing through the haze. Each room they passed bore scars of violence—blood, fallen guards, and splintered furniture.
The study door hung ajar, flames licking its frame. Inside, Mayor Edmund and Coraline stood backed against a bookshelf.
A young boy and girl clung to each other, terror in their eyes. The girl's brother shielded her, his courage defying the fear in his heart.
Masked assailants in robes closed in, blades gleaming. The guards meant to protect the family lay broken across the floor.
"We won't reach them in time!" Laverna hissed, drawing her daggers.
A voice echoed, not in the room, but in their minds.
"The time has come. Awaken."
Shin froze, breath caught in his chest. Laverna gasped, her body trembling.
Their crests blazed with golden light, ancient symbols spiraling across their skin. A surge of raw, divine power flooded their veins, blurring their vision.
Shin's orb pulsed, rising into the air, spinning wildly. His aura flared crimson and gold, shimmering like molten flame.
Laverna's mana twisted, her daggers humming with energy. Her eyes glowed golden, her form flickering like a spirit between realms.
An assailant turned, raising his blade. Shin vanished in a heartbeat.
He reappeared before the family, katana flashing red. His strike cleaved through the foe's sword and chest in one fluid motion.
Laverna joined him, her daggers slicing through the air as time seemed to slow. Her strikes, fueled by awakened energy, were swift and merciless.
The tide turned as divine fury overwhelmed the invaders. Their screams mingled with the clash of steel.
Above the firelight, the children clung to their parents. The spirit of the ruined temple whispered its final command.
"Protect the den. No matter the cost."
Shin and Laverna stood resolute, shielding Mayor Edmund's family from the chaos. The flames roared higher, casting jagged shadows across the study's crumbling walls.
Edmund clutched Coraline, his voice trembling with gratitude. "You saved us… Shin, Laverna, thank you."
Shin's eyes narrowed, scanning the doorway as footsteps thundered closer. "We're not out of the woods yet—grunts are pouring in."
Laverna hurled her daggers at the approaching assailants, their blades glinting in the firelight. A robed figure deflected them effortlessly, the weapons clattering against the scorched floorboards.
Golden light flared in Laverna's hands, and jamadhars—wicked, curved blades—materialized in her grip. She met Shin's gaze, her voice steady. "Protect the den."
The enemies charged, spells crackling through the air, weapons drawn. A blast of arcane energy shattered a nearby bookshelf, sending splinters and burning tomes raining down.
Shin darted forward, his katana a crimson blur, slicing through a spell mid-air. The deflected magic exploded against the ceiling, dislodging beams that crashed into the floor, kicking up clouds of ash.
Laverna leaped over a fallen beam, her jamadhars flashing as she engaged two assailants. Her strikes sparked against their blades, igniting stray embers that set a tapestry ablaze, its flames curling up the wall.
A robed mage unleashed a torrent of ice shards, freezing the floor beneath Shin's feet. He slid, using the momentum to spin and cleave through another foe, the impact shattering a stained-glass window, its fragments glittering in the firelight.
The study quaked as spells and steel collided, the air thick with smoke and mana. Shin and Laverna fought as one, their awakened power carving a path through the chaos, determined to honor the temple's command.
Amid the inferno, the leader of the grunts tore off his hood, revealing Captain Rorick's scarred face. He glanced at his pocket watch, a smirk curling his lips. "By now, the family's dead. We can slip out—no one will suspect a thing."
An explosion rocked the room, and a grunt's severed upper body hurtled through the air, landing at Rorick's feet. The hooded members of the Fourth Talon stood unflinching, their eyes cold.
Shin and Laverna burst through the collapsing doorway, emerging into the smoke-filled courtyard. Captain Rorick stood waiting, his blade gleaming under the flickering firelight.
"Lookie here, folks," Rorick drawled, his voice dripping with mockery. "Looks like we have traitors and heretics here."
The Fourth Talon's members remained hooded, their faces obscured in shadow. Mayor Edmund and his family stumbled out, gasping as they saw Shin and Laverna facing one of the Imperial Crown's elite.
"Hide—now!" Shin barked, his voice cutting through the chaos. Laverna nodded, urging the family toward a nearby stone alcove.
Two arrows streaked from the darkness, aimed at the fleeing family. Still in human form, Shin summoned his fox fires, which coalesced into the blazing form of Yoshimatsu, its ethereal flames melting the arrows into molten droplets as soon as the swords deflected the arrows.
The Fourth Talon's hoods fell away, revealing glowing marks encircling their necks. Laverna's sharp eyes caught the pulsing sigils, tethered to Captain Rorick's own mana—a slave spell binding each member to his will.
Rorick laughed, twirling his blade with a sneer. "Power's all that matters, and King Tristan showed me the way—forbidden magics, the kind that make you untouchable."
He leaned forward, his voice dropping to a petty gloat. "I cheated my way to Captain, and now? Prestige, feasts, the best booze, and women falling over me—that's the life I earned, and you'll never take it!"
Laverna's golden eyes flared, her voice sharp as her jamadhars. "You sold your soul for a title and scraps, Rorick—pathetic."
Shin stepped forward, his katana steady, his tone cold. "You're no captain, just a leech drunk on stolen power, and your 'prestige' won't save you from us."
Rorick's smirk twisted into a snarl, and the Fourth Talon closed ranks, their enslaved marks pulsing brighter. A low hum of forbidden magic crackled in the air, and the courtyard trembled as the true battle loomed.