King Vostra's voice rang out from the Chain-Golem's chest, rattling even the very stones of the tunnel.
It was metallic and without any emotions.
"Hello, son. Missed me?"
Kaelen's shadow burst around him in a storm of pure anger.
His knuckles turned white as he tightened his fists. His eyes were blazing an angry red that seemed to pulse with each beat of his enraged heart.
This wasn't just another monster. This was his own father, riding an abomination made of tortured souls.
He has obviously come to reclaim his "Lost Prince" and exterminate me.
My own scars throbbed with not just the familiar pain but now mixed with the cold dread of knowing the true power of the Temple.
The Chain-Golem moved and its large, chained limbs scraped against the stone. Each step made a sickening crunch that vibrated through the ground.
Souls trapped inside its fused Contracts screamed in silent agony. Tiny, flickering faces distorted in torment in its glowing links.
It was a bizarre, terrifying sight, evidence of the Temple's depravity.
"Seriously?" I muttered, my voice tight. "He brought his personal horror show? How subtle, Your Majesty."
My mind raced, trying to find an escape route, a weakness, anything. The tunnel is too narrow, too enclosed. We were trapped.
However, Kaelen didn't hesitate to extend his shadow claws.
He roared like a wounded lion. A sound that was more beast than human, and launched himself at the huge monstrosity.
He was a dark blur, a single-minded missile of rage and defiance.
But the Golem was huge, its chain-link arm swinging with bone-shattering force. Kaelen was flung back, slamming into the rough tunnel wall with a sickening thud.
He grunted, shaking his head, his shadow flickering, but he was already pushing himself up again.
"This way!" I yelled, pulling at his arm. There was a support wall on our right, old and crumbling, already groaning under the Golem's weight.
It was a long shot, but it was all we had. I aimed my scars, letting the destructive energy build. This wasn't about breaking a Contract; it was about tearing something apart.
"Void Spark!" I focused, pouring every ounce of my mana into the spell, pushing my exhausted body to its limit.
The raw energy forcefully slammed into the wall.
There was a flash of black fire and glowing sparks which was followed by a loud deafening CRACK!
The wall exploded outwards, sending a shower of dust, rock, and ancient timber flying all over.
The force of the blast created a new exit, a gaping hole leading into the humid night. But the explosion destabilized the entire tunnel system.
The ground creaked, and more cracks spiderwebbed across the ceiling.
"Run, idiots!" Lyra's voice, surprisingly loud and clear, sliced through the crumbling chaos.
She appeared like a ghostly whirlwind, coming from deeper within the well-system just as the Golem advanced.
She didn't have time to explain her mysterious re-emergence.
She tossed a handful of glittering vials at the approaching Temple enforcers that had followed the Golem into the newly opened hole.
The vials exploded on impact with blinding flashes of light and puffs of shimmering smoke.
When the smoke cleared, the enforcers were frozen, completely confused.
Their heavy metal armor started contorting, twisting and folding in on itself like paper.
In a matter of seconds, it morphed into intricate, flapping shapes.
"My Confusion Vials!" Lyra announced, with a delighted giggle. "It turns their armor into sentient origami cranes! See? Very pretty!"
Indeed, the enforcers' armor had become confused, flapping, metallic cranes, leaving the men tangled and screaming in their own now-useless prison.
"Run, idiots! My cranes won't distract them forever!"
However, the Chain-Golem was not affected by Lyra's aesthetic distractions. It raised another chained fist, intent on smashing us into oblivion.
"Let's get out of here!" Kaelen roared, grabbing my hand. His touch was firm, almost painfully tight, but necessary.
The tunnel was already collapsing around us. Large pieces of rock and debris rained down on us from the ceiling.
We didn't need to speak. Our newly acquired Bond Level 20, Synchronized Movement, activated.
It wasn't a conscious choice, just a sudden, effortless motion. We dodged falling debris in perfect sync, in a seamless, almost unnatural dance of evasion.
He moved left, I moved left. He ducked, I ducked. There was no hesitation, no need for communication.
It was like our bodies were extensions of each other, guided by a single, shared instinct.
Why does moving with him feel like… a dance? I thought, a weird, unwelcome sensation rising in my chest even as rocks whizzed past my head.
It was exhausting, terrifying, and deeply confusing all at once.
This hated bond was making me feel things I definitely did not want to feel about the grumpy prince.
Kaelen, seeing the widening exit, pulled me harder.
We burst out of the crumbling tunnel, scrambling to anywhere else was safer.
The night air here was a welcome change from the dust and terror of the tunnel, smells of the safety of pine trees and fresher air.
The Chain-Golem roared behind us, shaking the ground as it struggled to move its large form through the narrow opening we'd created.
The cries of Lyra's confused, crane-bound enforcers faded as we put distance between us and the collapsing farmhouse.
We continued to run until the sounds of the battle and the creaking groans of the Golem were distant echoes.
Stumbling through the dense forest, we ran until our legs were aching and our lungs almost gave out.
Kaelen, breathing heavily, finally collapsed against the knotted roots of an ancient tree.
I sank to the ground beside him, my entire body screaming in pain. The adrenaline was draining, leaving me completely spent.
He was still panting, his head thrown back against the rough bark of the tree. The faint red glow was stronger, and his eyes were wide now with a furious pulse.
His breathing became shallow, ragged and his chest heaved.
Then, his shadow suddenly erupted.
This time around, it wasn't a controlled surge or a focused attack. It was a wild and uncontrolled explosion of dark energy.
Tendrils of shadow lashed out randomly, tearing at the ground, ripping through nearby bushes and snapping saplings like twigs.
His now fully transformed clawed hands, slammed into the tree trunk beside him, cutting deep furrows in the bark.
His low growls were filled with raw uncontrolled rage and something that sounded like despair.
He was losing control.
The battle, the sight of his father piloting that abomination, the shared pain, the exhaustion – I guess it was all too much for him.
My heart was pounding in my chest. This wasn't the Prince. This was the monster, unleashed. And it was terrifying.
The shadow, now a swirling vortex of dark energy, expanded. With feral and unseeing blazing red eyes, Kaelen's head snapped up.
His gaze swept all over. The trees, the ground, even the very air around. And then, his eyes locked onto me.
A feral roar tearing from his throat, he swiped his large shadow claw dripping with dark energy directly at my face.