Once an awe-inspiring sanctum of magical power, the ward chamber was now a battlefield. At the room’s center, the great crystal anchors flickered weakly, their light pulsing erratically as though struggling to maintain stability. Unstable energy hummed through the air, thick and suffocating, raising the hairs on Cassie’s arms. Every breath she took was filled with the metallic tang of magic and the acrid bite of smoke.

  A dozen mercenaries and corrupted nobles swarmed the room, their weapons raised as they clashed with the palace guards. Sparks flew where steel met steel, and the acrid tang of magic lingered in the air.

  Theodoric and Cassie plunged into the fray without hesitation. Theodoric’s sword carved through the chaos with precision, his movements powerful and controlled. Cassie fought beside him, her dagger a blur as she struck with speed and efficiency.

  “Protect the anchors!” Theodoric shouted, his voice cutting through the noise.

  Cassie darted toward one of the crystal structures, intercepting a mercenary who lunged at its base with a sledgehammer. She slashed at his leg, sending him sprawling, and drove her blade into his shoulder before he could recover.

  The energy in the room grew more volatile with each passing moment. One of the crystals flickered, its glow dimming dangerously.

  “Hold the line!” Theodoric barked, rallying the guards.

  Cassie pressed forward, her eyes fixed ahead. She blocked a strike from a noble wielding a glowing staff, her dagger deflecting the crackling magic. With a sharp twist, she disarmed him and sent him reeling with a kick to the chest.

  The tide began to turn in their favor, but the cost was steep. Bodies littered the chamber floor, and the remaining guards were bloodied and exhausted.

  Cassie’s eyes darted toward the far end of the room, where a figure stood shrouded in shadows. Esther.

  She was watching the chaos unfold with a calm, almost amused expression.

  Cassie’s anger flared, hot and immediate. She broke away from the fight, weaving through the melee as she pursued Esther.

  Her blade slashed through the last of the mercenaries blocking her path, her breaths coming in ragged gasps. Around her, the chaos in the ward chamber was subsiding as Theodoric and the remaining guards forced the attackers into retreat.

  But Cassie barely registered the shifting tide—her focus was locked on Esther, who stood calmly at the far end of the chamber as though untouched by the battle raging around her.

  Esther met Cassie’s gaze and smiled faintly, a flicker of amusement in her eyes before she turned and slipped into the shadows of an arched doorway behind her.

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  “Esther!” Cassie shouted, her voice hoarse with fury. She broke into a sprint, weaving through the bodies littering the chamber floor. Theodoric saw her movement and shouted after her, but his voice was drowned out by the pounding in her ears.

  Cassie plunged into the passageway, the air growing colder with each step. The dim light of the ward chamber faded behind her, replaced by the faint, uneven glow of distant torches. Her side throbbed, but she pushed the pain aside, her anger fueling her movements.

  The sound of footsteps echoed faintly ahead. Esther was fast, but Cassie knew these passages well enough to avoid losing her completely. Every twist and turn of the corridors seemed to tighten the grip of the stone walls around her, their oppressive weight pressing down with each step.

  Finally, she emerged into a wide, vaulted chamber—a forgotten chapel buried beneath the palace. The place was a ruin, its once-grand pillars cracked and leaning, its stained glass shattered into a kaleidoscope of jagged fragments strewn across the stone floor.

  At the center stood Esther, her vivid gown a contrast against the crumbling decay.

  “You’re persistent,” Esther said, her voice carrying easily in the hollow space.

  Cassie gripped her dagger tightly, forcing her breathing to steady. “It’s over. You won’t escape this time.”

  Esther tilted her head, her smile widening. “You really think it’s that simple?”

  The air around her darkened, shadows coiling and twisting like living things. With a casual flick of her wrist, Esther summoned the constructs—shadowy, humanoid forms that moved unnaturally fast, their shapes shifting like smoke.

  Cassie darted forward, her dagger slicing through the first construct with precision. It dissolved into wisps of shadow, but the others pressed closer, their movements chaotic and relentless. Cassie fought to keep up, each strike of her blade a desperate attempt to hold them at bay.

  Pain flared in her injured side, and her movements faltered. Esther stood motionless, watching the struggle with detached amusement. “You’re out of your depth,” she said, her voice dripping with disdain.

  Cassie clenched her teeth, ignoring the pain as she slashed at another construct, her grip tightening around her dagger. The swarm pressed closer, her strength waning with every passing second.

  A shadowy figure lunged toward her—but before it could land its blow, a gleaming blade sliced through its form, dispersing it into smoke.

  Theodoric strode into the chapel, his sword raised and his expression fierce. He spared Cassie a brief glance, his voice low and steady. “Stay on your feet.”

  Together, they turned toward Esther. Theodoric’s presence shifted the air in the room, and for the first time, her confidence wavered. Her smile faltered, her eyes narrowing.

  “Enough,” Theodoric growled, his voice echoing in the crumbling space.

  Esther’s hands moved in a blur, and the shadows around her swirled violently. A surge of dark energy erupted from the floor, sending a wave of debris flying toward them. Theodoric moved instinctively, shielding Cassie with his body as the explosion forced them both backward.

  When the dust settled, Esther stood at the edge of a crumbling archway, her form shrouded in swirling darkness.

  “You can delay the inevitable,” she said, her voice resonating with an unnatural echo. “But you can’t stop it.”

  Before they could react, she unleashed a fiery explosion, the force of it shaking the chapel to its foundations.

  “Move!” Theodoric shouted, grabbing Cassie’s arm and pulling her to her feet as the walls began to collapse.

  They stumbled out of the chapel and back into the winding passageways just as the structure gave way behind them, the sound of falling stone echoing ominously.

  The faint, erratic pulse of the wards persisted in the distance, their light dimming with each passing moment. Cassie exchanged a glance with Theodoric, her expression grim.

  The fight wasn’t over.