Battle Against the Unknown Enemy

The creature's molten eyes flared brighter, and without a sound, it launched forward.

Aldric barely had time to raise his shield before the thing closed the distance. One moment it stood motionless, the next it blurred across the stone floor with terrifying speed. The impact of its charge cracked the ground beneath his feet, sending tremors rattling up his arms.

His shield caught the blow, but the force of it was staggering. The creature's bone-spikes slammed against the metal surface, grinding with unnatural strength. The heat pouring off its body scorched the leather straps of his bracer.

"Stay close!" Aldric barked.

Lysara already moved. She planted her staff into the ground and raised her holy symbol—a silver disc etched with the thirteen-pointed star of the Prime. The symbol pulsed once with radiant light, and then again, brighter, the glow spreading across the chamber like rippling water.

The creature flinched mid-strike. Its momentum slowed, movements becoming sluggish. The heat emanating from its skin dulled.

"It's resisting!" Lysara shouted, voice tight with strain. "But I've got it... for now!"

The creature twisted away from Aldric, lashing out at Lysara with one of its spike-covered arms. The strike moved slower than before, but it still tore through the air with lethal intent.

Aldric didn't think. He moved. His Oathbound effect was already activated.

The words passed his lips without conscious thought. The mark on his chest ignited with searing warmth, and the world shifted. His shield became surrounded with holy power.

The air thickened around him, solid and unyielding. His legs rooted themselves to the stone floor like iron stakes driven into bedrock. The creature's strike connected with his shield with a deafening clang. The impact sent cracks spiderwebbing across the stone beneath him—but he didn't move an inch.

The creature hissed soundlessly. It reared back, both arms raised for a downward strike. Bone-spikes gleamed in the molten glow of its eyes.

"Not today," Aldric growled.

He braced himself as the twin blows hammered against his shield. The power behind the strikes would have broken through castle gates—but Aldric stood unyielding. Divine energy coursed through his veins, anchoring him in place. The floor shattered beneath his feet, stone splintering outward in jagged cracks.

"Now, Lysara!" he roared.

Lysara pivoted, stepping in behind him. The holy symbol hanging from her neck flared again, casting a shimmering lattice of light across the chamber.

The energy coiled outward like invisible chains. The creature jerked as the shimmering threads wrapped around its limbs. Its movements slowed further, the heat of its body dimming under the oppressive pressure of divine restraint.

The creature's molten eyes locked onto Lysara. Its muscles strained against the light, bone-spikes cracking under the force of its resistance.

"Move!" Aldric shouted.

Lysara ducked as the creature twisted free of one of the light-bindings and hurled itself toward her. She moved gracefully and dove into a roll just as a spike-armed strike slammed into the ground where she'd stood. The force splintered the stone, sending shards of rock flying.

Aldric charged. His shield bashed into the creature's exposed side, driving it off balance. It staggered, and for the first time, its mouth opened in a soundless snarl. The spikes on its arms glowed brighter as if reacting to its growing fury.

Lysara sprang back to her feet. Her staff flared with light as she thrust it toward the creature's legs. "Anchor it!" she shouted.

Aldric understood immediately. He shifted his stance, activating his prayer once more. His shield struck the creature's knee with brutal precision. Divine force surged through the impact, locking the creature's leg in place as if nailed to the ground.

Lysara's staff descended like a hammer. A pulse of radiant energy erupted from the tip, surging through the stone. The light wove itself around the creature's trapped limb, solidifying into shimmering shackles.

The creature screamed then—a soundless wail that vibrated through the chamber like metal scraping bone. It swung its free arm toward Aldric's head.

Aldric raised his shield. The blow landed, splintering bone and steel, but his divine anchor held firm. He absorbed the strike without stepping back.

But cracks appeared along the edge of his shield before quickly repairing themselves. The sigil of Tellik glimmered weakly.

The creature's molten eyes flared brighter as it lunged without warning, moving with a speed that defied its size.

Lysara reacted instantly, raising her staff and sending a burst of radiant light crackling through the chamber. The creature flinched mid-charge, its momentum stalling as the holy energy tangled around its limbs. The Binding Light glimmered like golden chains, anchoring the creature's arms and legs.

"Got it," Lysara said through gritted teeth. "But it's fighting back."

Aldric didn't respond. He stepped in beside her, sword raised, shield locked in place. The Oathbound Canticle shimmered faintly across the polished surface, divine energy swirling like trapped mist beneath the engraved sigil of Tellik.

The creature twisted against the bindings. Its limbs strained against the radiant shackles, bone spikes grinding against the light. Then it shifted tactics.

It launched itself toward Aldric, claws flashing.

"Watch it!" Lysara warned.

The creature's first strike hammered against Aldric's shield with enough force to crack stone. The impact rang through the chamber like a bell tolling in a crypt. The ground beneath Aldric's feet shattered into a spiderweb of fractures.

The shield didn't budge.

The creature struck again, this time raking its claws across the surface. Sparks showered outward, but the blessed metal remained unblemished. The sigil of Tellik glowed brighter with every impact, as though drawing strength from the assault.

Aldric stood unmoving, feet rooted to the ground by the power of his oath. He could feel the shield's divine core—unyielding, resolute. The creature's strength was immense, but it was like a storm crashing against a mountain.

"You're not getting through this," Aldric muttered.

The creature screeched soundlessly. It lunged sideways, trying to bypass the shield. Aldric pivoted with it, shield still raised. The creature's next strike slammed into the enchanted surface, meeting the same impenetrable resistance.

Lysara moved swiftly behind Aldric, circling to the creature's flank. The light of her staff intensified as she whispered another prayer.

"Prime, bind the restless. Still the cursed."

The Binding Light which had been enhanced with holy power surged across the chamber again. The glowing threads coiled around the creature's legs, slowing its movements. Its molten eyes narrowed as it realized it was losing its speed advantage.

But it didn't give up.

The creature planted its feet and lunged again, this time driving both spiked arms downward toward Aldric's head.

Aldric slammed his shield upward and braced.

The twin blows crashed against the shield with earth-shaking force. Stone shards exploded from the floor beneath him, and the shockwave rattled his teeth. But he remained standing. Unmoved.

The Oathbound Canticle surged through him, locking his muscles in place. The divine power thrummed through his bones, anchoring him like a pillar sunk deep into bedrock.

"You're holding it!" Lysara called.

"Yeah," Aldric said, voice strained. "But not forever."

The creature hissed silently and strained against the shield. Its molten veins pulsed with crimson light. Smoke poured from its skin, and the heat in the chamber intensified.

"Whatever you're going to do," Aldric ground out, "do it fast."

Lysara didn't hesitate. She shifted her grip on her staff, raised her holy symbol, and closed her eyes.

The silver disc blazed to life in her hand, glowing with divine brilliance.

"Prime, grant me the fire that endures, the flame that purifies. Let shadow cower before holy wrath."

The air shifted, crackling with sudden intensity. Heat radiated outward from the holy symbol, sharp and searing. A thin stream of golden fire erupted from the disc, snaking through the air like a living thing. It coiled around the creature's limbs and chest, burning without consuming. The divine flames hissed against its molten skin, searing the void corruption beneath.

The creature roared in soundless agony. Its limbs spasmed as the holy fire constricted, driving it lower. The veins along its arms darkened and cracked beneath the relentless heat.

Lysara's knuckles whitened around her staff. "I can't hold it forever," she said through clenched teeth, sweat pouring down her temples. "It's pushing back hard."

Aldric's mind raced. The creature was strong, but it couldn't withstand the divine pressure indefinitely. Unless...

His gaze fell to the creature's chest. The molten veins pulsing beneath its skin converged there, just below the collarbone. A core of heat glowed faintly beneath the surface.

"There!" he shouted, pointing. "That spot—its core!"

Lysara nodded, eyes blazing with focus. She angled her staff toward the weak point and slammed the butt of it into the ground. The radiant chains tightened around the creature's torso, drawing its arms outward like a crucifixion. The glow intensified, revealing the network of molten veins even more clearly.

The creature bucked wildly, every muscle convulsing in protest. Its gaze locked on Lysara. It lunged with the last of its strength, trying to tear free.

"Not today," Aldric growled.

He surged forward, shield still raised. The holy power thrummed beneath his skin, feeding his resolve. His sword flashed as he swung with every ounce of strength left in his body.

The blade struck the creature's core.

The steel met flesh—and then passed into something hotter, denser. The divine runes along the sword flared, pouring light into the wound.

The creature froze.

Its molten veins turned black, the corruption unravelling from the point of impact. Lysara's holy chains constricted around the creature's limbs, locking it in place as the divine power surged through its core.

The creature spasmed once, twice—then collapsed inward with a sound like shattering glass.

Its body crumbled into ash.

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Aldric slumped to one knee, sword still embedded in the stone floor where the creature had stood. His breath came in ragged gasps.

Lysara dropped beside him, clutching her staff for support.

"You good?" she asked.

"Yeah." He forced a weak smile. "You?"

She wiped sweat from her brow. "I've had easier fights."

They sat there for a moment, catching their breath.

The ash left behind by the creature didn't dissipate. It lingered in a circular pattern around the cracked stone. Faint symbols became visible within the ash—runes neither of them recognized.

Lysara reached out with her staff and brushed the markings aside. Aldric couldn't make sense of the marking.

"This thing..." she said, voice cautious. "It was new. Not like anything from the Veil."

Aldric frowned. "You sure?"

She nodded. "I've fought Voidborn my whole life. I've never seen one like that. Its magic felt...different. Like it wasn't entirely void. Or entirely... anything."

The ground beneath them rumbled.

A jagged crack split the floor where the creature had fallen. The stone heaved and collapsed inward, revealing a circular shaft descending into darkness. Heat wafted from the depths like a furnace door yawning open.

Lysara stood, staff at the ready. "I think we will find the anchor down there."

Aldric pulled his sword free from the stone and adjusted his shield. It gleamed, untouched despite the punishment it had taken.

He met Lysara's gaze. "Then let's finish this."

Together, they stepped toward the edge of the abyss. The heat rising from below promised nothing but danger.

They descended into the waiting dark.