The Stone Tyrant howled.
A sound that was deeper than thunder, filling the fractured forest with a death wail.
Across the and scorched glade, Thalanar stood tall upon Valdrak, blood trailing down from his brow where he had a cut, his cloak torn and his armor cracked. In his hands was a staff of living wood with grain that pulsed with ancient mana, the same ancient timber wielded by Kirellion.
"You thought we were dead?" Thalanar shouted across the battlefield. "You thought you had won?"
Valdrak roared, snorted smoke from his nostrils, and vaulted forward with a guttural snarl.
The stone Tyrant bawled back bringing its claws to the dirt and raising its tail as the pendulum of destruction it was. It did ignore the elves too weak to continue fighting and children lying unconscious in the dirt, but in that moment he saw only two threats. The chief and the beast.
The tail met the staff in a crack of sound.
Mana trailed out from the impact like a shockwave in every direction, green and violet. The ground shivered, and Luenor, standing ten feet from the treeline, was thrown backwards a few feet as he landed flat on the ground. He rolled and groaned as dazed, but still alive.
Valdrak charged.
The white tiger slashed beneath the beast's chin with its claws at the one exposed area of its stony armor. The Stone Tyrant roared and began to slam its skull downwards in an attack, but Valdrak ducked low and circled around to the side.
"Luenor!" Thalanar shouted, hoarse with fear.
Luenor scrambled to his feet.
"Get the others up! Get the rest of your people—MOVE THEM!"
The young Sureva blinked, taken aback. "What—?"
Thalanar grit his teeth, barely dodging again the swing of the tail as he leaned heavily against his staff. "The Gate is closing! The humans are sealing it! We don't want them to find us. This forest is lost. We must find new home. Now GO!"
Elves began to stir behind them—Telmar stood up shakily, an old wound and leaning on his own shattered spear only just remaining on his feet, having overheard the order.
"No… Thalanar…" he muttered weakly. "We can still hold this place. This forest is ours—"
"It was ours," Thalanar snapped, spinning away from the the thrust of the Stone Tyrant's tail yet again. The force of the impact sent him sliding as it struck him. "Now it is cursed! And I will not let another child die protecting it!"
Valdrak lunged again, locking jaws around the Tyrant's shoulder. The beast responded with a snarl, gathering mana in its throat.
Thalanar sensed it immediately.
"Down!"
The mana beam erupted like a cannon blast, glowing purple and red, slamming into Thalanar and Valdrak with explosive force.
The chief was thrown from the tiger's back, crashing into a tree trunk and collapsing in a heap.
Valdrak, injured but enraged, snarled and continued the assault—his white fur now stained with crimson streaks.
Luenor ran.
He skidded to a halt beside Thalanar, who groaned and tried to sit up but couldn't. Blood dripped from his side. His breath was ragged.
"You should've left," Thalanar said through gritted teeth. "I told you to run."
Luenor bent down, wrapping the chief's arm around his shoulder.
"I don't run from people who gave me shelter. Even if it was just for a night," he replied. "You protected my sister. My people. I'm not leaving you behind."
The ground shook again as the Stone Tyrant, bloodied but undeterred, turned its glowing eye back toward them.
And above, the skies began to shift—light pouring from the collapsing Gate in the sky as the humans closed it… and the forest grew dark once more.