A Song of Despair and Darkness
Tara lunged, her body a blur of fire and fury, her spear burning with divine radiance. She struck with the force of a goddess—unstoppable, absolute.
And yet, Shree Yan did not flinch.
His hand rose, two fingers extended, as if to mock the might she wielded.
Clang!
The divine spear—stopped.
Not shattered. Not repelled. Simply held.
Tara's golden flames hissed, struggling, desperate to burn the one who stood against them. But the shadows around Shree Yan whispered, drinking the fire's life away.
His red eyes gleamed, cold as a blade beneath the moon.
"You are a phoenix, Tara." His voice was soft, almost pitying. "But what happens when the phoenix forgets how to rise?"
Tara's breath hitched. Fear. The realization struck her like a blade to the gut. This was not a man. This was not a warrior.
This was something beyond mortality.
A being that did not resist destruction—but welcomed it.
She wrenched herself free, staggering back. Fire erupted around her, forming sigils in the air—incantations of an ancient kind, ones meant to break even demons.
Shree Yan watched, amused.
"A final struggle?" he murmured. "Very well. Entertain me."
The sigils pulsed, the flames twisting into chains of molten gold. They lashed toward him, seeking to bind, to cage, to seal.
And for the first time—Shree Yan moved.
A single step.
The shadows beneath him writhed, expanding like a living abyss. The golden chains never reached him. They vanished before touching his skin, swallowed by a darkness deeper than death itself.
Tara's heart pounded. Impossible.
But Shree Yan did not allow her time to react.
In a blink, he was before her.
A hand—cold as the void—touched her forehead. Darkness seeped into her skin.
"You wanted to burn me," he whispered. "Now burn within your own soul."
And then—agony.
Tara's world collapsed into shadow.
The Phoenix fell.