Shadow Bands

XLV. Occultation

 Kaelen plunged through the dimensional tear, dragging Draven with him. Instead of a glorious, unified void, they landed in a chaotic, agonizing space: Draven's unstable pocket dimension.

It was a nightmare landscape of flickering, oily shadows, gravity that shifted every few seconds, and a sickeningly cold current of raw, unformed Source that burned Kaelen's Lycan skin. This dimension was not a stable refuge; it was a desperate, temporary shelter Draven had ripped from the fabric of reality.

Draven immediately tried to channel the chaotic energy, but the instability worked against him. Kaelen, however, recognized the energy signature. It was the same chaotic, fragmented Aether Lyra had wrestled with in her earliest experiments.

"Your Source has betrayed you," shouted Kaelen, readying himself for what was to come. "What can you possibly achieve with this. . ." Kaelen threw his arms up, gesturing at the chaotic space. "Chaos!"

Kaelen roared, but the void consumed the sound. He slammed Draven into a wall of solidifying shadow, pinning him with his superior Lycan weight. Draven's remaining strength pulsed with his Source, attempting to blast Kaelen back.

"You will never have her!" Draven retaliated. "I offer stability! Power! You offer ruin!"

"Your stability is slavery. And your desire is a weakness." Kalen replied, his voice calm, fueled by the clarity of his newfound control.

Kaelen pointed his claws at Draven's chest, ready to strike his heart, but Draven's expression made him hesitate. With that second, Draven bucked him off and stood, but before he could use his Source, Kaelen drove his twinblade into his chest. Draven's eyes widened, staring deep into Kaelen's.

His arms slumped, but he still held onto life. Draven rested a hand on the blade and coughed blood.

"What will you do with Lyra?"

"I will be by her side."

Draven's gaze grew distant.

"Will she forgive me?"

Kaelen hesitated to answer. "She will remember you for what you were, not who you are now."

Draven's eyes closed. With a wave of his hand, Draven had removed Kaelen from his pocket dimension, sending him tumbling out of the sky towards a war.

· · ─ · ◯☽✵☾◯ · ─ · ·

The air grew hotter the closer she got to the sun. Lyra endured it as hundreds of the Elerian people were getting killed. Adrenaline fueled her actions, yet fear had planted its seeds in the back of her mind.

She slid to stop where the heat became unbearable. Her chest heaved, and her eyes scanned her surroundings to find the Grand Prexy to be nowhere in sight. Her leg bounced as she clenched her teeth.

"Okay," she said to herself, taking in a deep breath.

Lyra closed her eyes, focusing on the power within her and her Aether Cell. She held her hands out towards the fake sun. The sun tugged at her energy, but she didn't waver. Finding its tether, she needed to figure out how to move it.

"You've lost, and yet you still fight." Lyra snapped her head towards the voice to find the Grand Prexy walking under the sun. "Why is that? You humans have something I could never understand—conviction."

Lyra found her lost fury almost turning towards her, but the Grand Prexy stopped her.

"I wouldn't. If you lose focus now, the sun will grow and your energy will be depleted."

She found herself in a position she couldn't get out of.

"There is more than just conviction: there's passion, and love! Something you will never understand."

"Perhaps." Her hands folded. "You are an interesting one, Lyra. I can see why he loves you."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The one who gave you your Source."

Lyra's brow furrowed. "Draven."

"He would've been a great general. Perhaps stronger than Civet."

"You talk as if he's already dead." Her breath grew shallow, hoping to deceive herself.

"My tie to him has been severed-"
"Your tricks will not work!" Lyra shouted, sending a shockwave towards the Grand Prexy, causing her to step back.

"Then lie to yourself."

She held out her hand, pushing Lyra back, but she was ready, putting up a wall of Aether before the initial impact.

With a twist of the Grand Prexy's arm, dead roots and trees coiled towards Lyra, aiming to subdue her. She met the waves of dead foliage with Oath Breaker, freezing them in place.

As her attention went elsewhere, the sun grew bigger as the Grand Prexy said it would, forcing her to focus on it once more.

The Grand Prexy chuckled. "You are merely a novice at wielding a Source. Such fundamentals were never taught, and yet you use it like a baby with a toy."

"I will end this nightmare, and you along with it!"

Lyra drew Oath Breaker once more, holding it to the sun. She let out a primal yell, releasing the largest amount of Source she could. A glacier erupted from the ground, piercing the sun. For a moment, the look of concern was spread across the Grand Prexy's face, then it went back to amusement.

"That won't be enough."

"That's not what I was aiming for."

Lyra held out her hand towards the Grand Prexy, and with a flick of her wrist, used her source to fling her towards the melting glacier. A loud thud and the crackling of ice echoed off the trees. Lyra rushed towards her. Using Oath Breaker to create ice steps.

Using part of Draven's Source, she brought the sun, along with the Grand Prexy, into her pocket dimension. Her chest ached. Knowing she couldn't gasp for air, her time was short.

"And now what?" she heard in her head. A slight intonation of anger wove through the words.

Lyra envisioned the entity, bringing forth an aperture to go through, dragging them along. Once they went through, the sun illuminated the vast rubble field she couldn't see before. The Grand Prexy tried using her Source, but the purple entity glowed brightly, nullifying it.

"What have you done?" she heard in her head again.

"I'm finishing this fight."

Lyra tugged at the air, pulling the Grand Prexy towards her at a tremendous speed. She drove Oath Breaker through her stomach. Using the last ounce of Source she had left, she froze the blade into her gut and slipped back into her pocket dimension, leaving them behind.

Her vision blurred as she traveled the corridor of memories and space. Until she found herself back at the Veil manor. The crackling of the Everfire never sounded more like home.

"You made it."

Lyra shot up from the couch, finding Aeris and her mother at the desk. She quickly felt her body, making sure it was still in one piece.

Aeris chuckled. "I knew you could do it, Lyra."

"Aeris. . ." Tears flooded her eyes, and Aeris ran to her, holding her in an embrace.

"It's done. But your time has yet to come."

"No, I wanna be here. With everyone."

"We can wait, but the world can't. You still have much to do."

Senator Veil walked beside them, placing a gentle hand on her cheek. When Lyra glanced around, she couldn't find Draven or her mother.

"Where are they?"

"They're waiting for you."

Lyra closed her eyes. The warmth of her tears trailed down to her chin. She cherished their warmth one last time before giving in.

Gasping for air, she awoke coughing. Lying in a pool of water. It was night, and the sound of clashing metal reverberated off the glowing trees. A warm flow coursed around her, filling her with an energy she remembered. Lyra stood from the water, staring at her reflection as it settled. Her glowing emerald eyes stared back.