Chapter 9: The Roar of the Echo
The forest was a labyrinth of living shadows.
Each tree a sentinel whispering my name.
I ran.
My heart pounded like a war drum.
Blood dripped from my wounds, staining the ground.
Nyra panted at my side.
Her shoulder bleeding.
Her knife gleamed with a fury mirroring her own.
Lirien's amulet pulsed in my hand.
A dying white light fought against the black veins.
Those veins covered my face and chest.
Like armor forged in darkness.
Dren's broken locket burned in my pocket.
A cursed heart, glowing purple.
A presence pursued us.
And in my mind—
The Threshold laughed.
> "The Wrath watches you, Echo," it said.
"Show it who you are, or die."
The man in the bone mask was close.
His steps didn't touch the ground.
Each one sent a shiver down my spine.
The air reeked of death.
A red glow grew on the horizon.
A living inferno, crawling closer with every heartbeat.
Nyra stumbled.
Her breath ragged.
She rose without a word.
Her eyes blazing.
Her resolve made me doubt my own.
"We can't keep running!" Nyra growled.
She stopped in a clearing, ringed by twisted trees.
Her knife spun in her hand.
The air around her swirled—
Charged with her magic.
She raised her chin.
Her black hair waving like a flag in the storm.
The wind roared.
Slicing leaves like blades.
> "If he wants us," she said,
"Let him come. I'm no prey."
I admired her bravery.
But my strategist's mind knew—
We weren't ready.
The man in the bone mask was no ordinary hunter.
His presence bent the world.
The ground shook.
And he appeared.
The bone mask gleamed under the moon.
Etched with bleeding purple runes.
His black robes billowed like smoke.
His hands were covered in pulsing sigils.
And in them—
An obsidian scythe.
The weapon swallowed the light.
The air grew thick.
Heavy.
As if death had taken form.
Behind the mask—
Purple eyes.
A voice echoed inside me.
Not in the air—
In my soul.
> "Arion Vaelis. Echo of the Threshold."
> "Your blood awakens the Sins."
"Surrender, or this world will be ashes."
Nyra stepped forward.
Her knife raised.
> "You won't take him!" she roared.
Her magic erupted.
A whirlwind of wind and fury.
It carved the earth like a blade.
But the man raised his hand.
And the storm died.
Vanished.
Nyra dropped to her knees, gasping—
But unshaken.
> "Brave, child of Air," he said.
"Useless."
The Ether screamed within me.
Begging to be released.
My body trembled.
Blood spilled from my eyes.
The veins on my skin tightened around my heart.
I knew using it could kill me.
But I had no choice.
I clutched the amulet.
Its white light dim, flickering.
> "You are enough," her voice whispered in my mind.
But I wasn't.
Not without a price.
> "I won't surrender," I growled.
I stepped forward.
The Ether ignited.
The clearing trembled.
My eyes blazed purple.
The air fractured.
Sparks danced like lightning.
For one fleeting second—
I felt it.
The obsidian throne.
> "If the Sins want me…"
"Let them come."
The man laughed.
It wasn't mockery.
It was mourning.
> "The Wrath will test you, Echo."
"But first… me."
He swung his scythe.
The ground split.
Clawed shadows emerged like a plague.
Not beasts.
Servants of Sin.
Their red eyes burned with hate.
> "Nyra—cover me!" I roared.
I charged.
My dagger slashed through air and bone.
One servant exploded into ash.
Another lunged.
Nyra stood.
Her magic howled.
A storm of blades shredded through three more.
She was fury incarnate.
A goddess of war.
But the man didn't even flinch.
He raised his scythe.
Shadows struck me.
My chest tore open.
I screamed.
The Ether answered.
A purple explosion consumed the clearing.
Servants turned to dust.
But the pain—
It was a hammer.
I fell.
Blood spilled from my lips.
The black veins crawled.
Roots wrapping tighter.
> "Arion!" Nyra cried.
She unleashed another whirlwind.
It held them off.
The man in the mask stepped forward.
His scythe came down.
I rolled.
Felt the wind of death skim my face.
I rose, staggering.
The locket in my pocket pulsed—
Answering something in him.
> "The locket," he hissed.
"Give it up, and the Wrath will spare you."
> "No," I said.
I pulled it out.
It seared my hand.
I didn't care.
The Ether flared.
A purple light burst.
The earth shook.
Trees bowed.
For a moment—
I was the Threshold.
> "If the Wrath wants me, let it come for me."
I threw the locket.
It exploded.
A storm of violet consumed him.
He screamed.
Fell.
But he didn't die.
His runes glowed.
The storm was dispelled.
> "Fool," he spat.
He raised his hand.
The sky tore.
A purple rift opened.
Something roared.
Not the Wrath—
But something worse.
An obsidian colossus descended.
Wings of fire.
Eyes like dying suns.
Its presence crushed the clearing.
The air turned to poison.
The ground shattered.
> "The Echo must break!" it roared.
Nyra reached me.
Bleeding.
But unbowed.
Her knife ready.
> "We can't fight that," she whispered.
> "We don't have to," I replied.
"Only survive."
I clutched the amulet.
Its light sparked.
I stood.
The Ether howled.
My eyes flared—
Beacons in the dark.
The colossus raised a fist.
I unleashed everything.
A blast of violet.
It blinded the clearing.
The ground cracked.
A crater formed.
Severing the battlefield.
> "Run!" I shouted.
I pushed Nyra.
We ran.
The forest roared behind us.
The colossus's fury chased our heels.
A vision struck me.
The obsidian throne.
Blood dripping.
Nyra, dead.
Lirien, fading.
The Wrath smiled.
Others stood behind it.
Shadows with wings.
Crowns of bone.
Eyes of ice.
The Sins.
> "The Wrath is only the first," the Threshold whispered.
"The throne is your chain."
I collapsed near a river.
The edge of the forest.
Nyra caught me.
Breathing heavy.
> "What was that?" she gasped.
Above us—
The rift still burned purple.
> "The beginning," I said.
The amulet in my hand was dark.
Its light gone.
The veins wrapped tighter.
But ahead—
I felt it.
The Ember Academy.
> "Come on," I muttered.
"We won't rest until we get there."
Nyra nodded.
Her knife gleamed.
The dawn lit her silhouette.
A promise of war.
Her wind magic whispered around her.
A hymn of vengeance.
And I, Arion Vaelis, knew—
The throne awaited me.
But first…
The Sins would come.
And I—
Would be ready.