Leaves scattered in the wind as Halcyon darted through the dense underbrush of the black swamp, each breath she took was quick.
The sound of boots thundered behind her… As the hunters were relentless and surely merciless.
Their shouts cut through the air, but was also covered by eerie roars of beasts watching from the shadows.
As noticed previously that Asher himself was moving around like he's being chase. However, this time getting closer to her then away?
Without hesitation, veering through some trees, she turned to him.
"BOOM!"
A sudden shockwave rippled through the swamp, shaking branches and flinging mud around?
The moment the shockwave passed, there was the sound of flesh that meeting stone.
Asher came crashing through a tree from the opposite direction, he had a wild look in his eyes, a blur happened ahead, as three hunters lunged toward him.
He didn't hesitate, any longer as he himself could feel Halcyon getting closer.
She shouldn't be having to fight. I don't need to get her any weaker or it's me and teacher.
"CRACK!"
His one punch shattered a hunter ribs sending him slamming against a boulder… bones splintering on impact.
Another was spun kick backward, colliding with two more.
Asher moved like a serpent… each strike was feral, precise and overwhelming.
In that moment over his shoulders.
Frozen air, caused by the cold ground he only saw last second was a figure then skidded near him. Half grinning despite their danger.
"Looks like you have your own friends."
"Too many," Asher growled. "You?"
"Same. But I have an idea…"
Sudden, the went freezing cold even the hunters shivered. As a cold spread across Halcyon's palm her violet eyes shimmered an icy blue.
A ice cold crystalline sphere conjured, spinning wildly in her palm…
A cold frozen death spiked orb, hissing and glinting in the light formed. Her gaze darted back and forth between wide eyes hunter, that questioned their situation.
This should easily get us this predicament. Just this killing shouldn't need to happened.
"Asher. Pull back!"
He didn't question her. With a single backflip, he dodged an incoming blade vaulting away, leaving the tightly packed group of hunters behind, their young master confused yet happy, hey had Halcyon or did they?
One deep breath… In that moment the sphere was hurled into the air with everything she hand. It cut through the air like a comet.
"FWWOOOM!"
The moment it landed a violent eruption of ice blasted outward.
Frozen ice spikes exploded from the center, impaling hunters in every direction… mid stride, mid attack and mid scream. Blood splattered across the frost covered ground caused by the sphere.
1. 2. 3
As second passed the only sound remained was the cold hiss from the hunter corpses.
Asher shuffled beside her, smirking his eyes scanning the carnage.
"Damn," he muttered. "Remind me to never eat anything you turn into a ball."
Halcyon smirked, brushing her hair from her face. "You won't have to. I only make them for Lucian."
They exchanged a glance… breathing hard, but alive.
Halcyon's heartbeat thundered in her ears. Her eyes narrowed. "Why were they after us? What the hell is going on?"
Asher didn't answer immediately. His chest rosed with each breath. His fists still glowing faintly.
Instead, he reached inside his coat and pulled out a small, pulsing item.
The bloodlink compass.
Halcyon's eyes widened. "That's…"
"No time," Asher cut in, his voice serious. "The Crown Relic… it's moving again."
Halcyon blinked rapidly. "Wait. What? I thought it was sealed…"
"It was," Asher snapped. "But the seal's weakening. And now…"
His eyes hardened, he looked uo through the trees. "It's heading back to Ebonhaven."
A cold gust swept between them, carrying the distant rumble of thunder… Halcyon felt a twist in her gut. Ebonhaven the cursed city where everything just happened back to their own personal hunters.
During the time, Halcyon was healing herself, Asher in his room had long realized that the relic was different on the move tick by tick but then as he explored he encountered the hunters.
"No…" She breathed. If the relic makes it back there…someone from the Crimson Sanctum will claim it.
Asher was a bit confused but he also trusted that something was wrong that it had her and Lucian worried.
Those hunters weren't the threat… Not anymore.
Halcyon clenched her fists. Her voice dropped low but firm. "Then we stop it. Before it crosses the threshold."
Asher nodded. "We have one shot. Let's not waste it."
And with that, the two of them vanished into the fading mist, their horses footsteps echoing away.
Upon rushing out, the Black Swamp. Days passed, relentless travel through marshes, forests, and ash-covered plains.
…
Before Ebonhaven, infront a large forst behind coveted by the night sky, carried a eerie silence.
Two shadows slowly steppped toward Ebonhaven black gated guard wall. Vines crept along the walls. The air was heavy, reeking of rot and memory.
The moment, they took another step forward, they both froze? Muscles tensed up, someone was watching, thought they couldn't pin point where.
A sudden pressure crushed down on them from all directions, like the sky itself had turned hostile.
In a blink…
Dozens of powerful presences flared to life around them.
Halcyon spun in place, instincts flaring like fire.
"We're surrounded."
Asher's eyes sharpened. "I feel them. They were waiting."
From the shadows of broken towers and shattered ruins, figures emerged—quiet, confident, and lethal.
A voice rang out through the wind, laced with amusement and menace.
A sudden pressure pressed down on them from all directions, as if the sky itself was watching. Halcyon faced twisted from the pain attacking her weak body and soul. However, Asher remained montionless, he placed his hand on her shoulder, immediately removing the weight.
In a blink of an eye, multiple powerful presences ignited around them.
Halcyon's spun in place, her instincts flared. "We're surrounded."
Asher slowly gazed around. "I feel them... They been waiting."
From the shadows and shattered trees, figures emerged sliding down…
A voice rang out through the wind, mixed with amusement and menace.
"Halcyon and Asher together… Far from aren't home you."
The wind howled between them. A cold tension settled in the air as the two figures circled Halcyon and Asher, each radiating their unique, oppressive aura, malic and hunger.
Halcyon eyes narrowed between the figures. "Hizon. Tallia. The real question is… why are you here alone?"
One stepped forward… Hizon, crimson robes fluttering, his voice like sand scraping glass.
"Ebonhaven isn't so forgotten anymore, is it? It reeks… of too many souls."
The second figure… Tallia, shorter, cloaked in midnight silk tilted her head, her voice smooth and annoyance.
"And it can't be the others… Only you two would be foolish enough to kill the Malgrith… and reckless enough to still carry the scent of the Crown Relic."
She took a step closer, her small crimson eyes gleaming bright through the darkness.
"That makes you prey."
Halcyon stepped forward, jaw tightened. "They came after us first. They weren't hunters… they were scavengers. Lucian's creations. Twisted by Lazarus' madness."
Asher crossed his arms, expression calm but smug, a crooked smirk curling his lips. He took one step ahead of Halcyon.
"So what, now you've crawled out of your holes to clean up someone else's mess? Because let's be honest… you Sanctum tiers love to fight each other more than your enemies."
His eyes flicked across their bodies. "And you? You reek of minor rites. Still fresh off initiation..."
Hizon bristled… his jagged blade unsheathed in a heartbeat. Tallia's fingers danced through the air, her sigils igniting like embers in the dark.
His fangs gleamed crimson as he released primal roared, as he moved his jagged blade to his fingers, began channeling sigils into his palms.
"Watch your tongue, Asher," Hizon growled. "You don't know who you're facing anymore."
Asher didn't move. He didn't need to. His voice stayed even, as a pressure released from his body.
"No, I know exactly who I'm facing. And that's the problem… you're not worth the energy it'd take to break you."
Upon their travel. Halcyon somewhat give him a summary of their troubles, with the Crimson Sanctum. And, despite not knowing exactly, he still knew he had to protect her.
No only because his teacher said so, because it was time to be together again, after year apart.
Tallia's lips curled into a twisted smile. "Still cocky… but both of you? Same as before. No growth. No evolution. Still dragging the past behind you like a corpse."
"For Halcyon. I'm a bit suprised you haven't killed Asher yet. After your unstable ice did to Lucian last time."
Halcyon eyes dropped low, her fist clenched to her side. Before her head went back high. She stepped beside Asher, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder… Her voice, however, was cold steel.
"We don't have time for your power games. We're heading into the city."
She nodded toward the gates. "As your leader… Stand. Aside."