Just as Zane's blood-spear, its tip glowing with an ominous crimson light, was a foot away from Selena's face, a powerful, unseen force slammed into him from the side, a crushing kinetic blow that sent him spiraling through the air. He crashed hard against a stone pillar, the impact shaking the entire cavern and leaving a deep, Zane-shaped crater in the stone.
Zane, slightly dazed and disoriented, his eyes still fixed on Xavier, watched as a woman stood over the man who had hurt Elias. She was beautiful, with long, dark hair and eyes that glowed with the same faint, kinetic energy as Xavier's. She was the one who had hit him.
"This is not how we settle disputes, Xavier," the woman said, her voice a low, commanding tone that carried an undeniable authority. "Elias stays. Kaelen is our leader, and his word is law."
Xavier, still on the ground, looked up at her, a look of respect, but also defiance, on his face. "But, Selena..." he began.
"No," Selena said, her voice final. "She stays. Now get up. And you," she said, her glowing eyes now fixed on Zane, "calm yourself. That kind of unhinged fury will get you killed. We are all on the same side here."
Zane, still full of pure rage, didn't hear her. He saw only red, a blur of motion and vengeance. He charged at the woman with a terrifying, unholy speed, his blood-forged claws extending, his body a weapon of pure, unadulterated fury.
Selena's expression didn't waver. She met his charge head-on, her glowing eyes fixed on his. She didn't raise a hand to stop him, but instead, a wave of kinetic force slammed into Zane from all sides, a crushing, suffocating pressure that brought him to a sudden, jarring halt.
He struggled against the unseen force, his blood-armor crackling and straining under the immense pressure. He tried to move, to punch, to lash out, but the force was unyielding, holding him in place as if he were a puppet on a string.
"I said, calm yourself," Selena repeated, her voice colder now, a hint of steel beneath the surface. "We are not your enemies. We are all here for a reason. Elias is under Kaelen's protection, and that is final."
Zane's mind, still consumed by rage, refused to process her words. He saw only the brutal image of Xavier striking Elias, and the woman who had just protected him. With a primal roar, he unleashed a torrent of hardened blood, a wild, uncontained blast of power that shattered the kinetic field around him and sent Selena staggering backward.
The blast of energy from the clash of their powers was immense, a deafening explosion that sent a shockwave through the courtyard. The crowd, which had been watching in stunned silence, now scattered in terror, their screams echoing in the cavern.
Zane, his fury a raw, burning fire in his veins, lunged at Selena, his blood-forged claws reaching for her. She, in turn, met his attack with a surge of kinetic force, her hands blurring as she deflected his blows. The air was filled with the crackle of energy and the metallic tang of fresh blood as Zane's claws tore through her kinetic shields, leaving shallow cuts on her arms and legs.
"You're a child, boy," Selena snarled, her voice laced with venom. "You have no control. You are a danger to everyone here."
"She is a child!" Zane roared back, his voice a distorted, demonic growl. "And he hurt her! I will kill him! And you, if you stand in my way!"
Selena's eyes narrowed, a look of grim determination on her face. She met his next attack with a devastating counter, a crushing kinetic blow that sent Zane flying through the air once more, his body crashing against the opposite wall.
He hit the ground, his body a mangled mess of hardened blood and torn flesh, but he didn't stay down. With a sickening crunch of bone and a grotesque slithering sound, his body instantly began to mend, the blood reforming and solidifying, his injuries healing with an impossible speed.
He was back on his feet in a heartbeat, his eyes glowing with an even brighter, more malevolent crimson light. He was a relentless engine of destruction, a being fueled by rage and vengeance, a creature of pure, unadulterated power.
"You should have stayed down, boy!" Selena yelled, her voice laced with venom. She slammed her foot down on the ground, and a wave of compressed kinetic force ripped through the courtyard, sending cracks spiderwebbing across the floor.
Zane simply met the attack head-on, absorbing the impact with his blood-forged armor, his body shuddering under the immense pressure. He pushed forward, a crimson juggernaut of pure fury, closing the distance between them.
He didn't need a strategy. He didn't need a plan. He just needed to kill Xavier, and anyone who stood in his way. He unleashed a barrage of punches, his hands morphing into different weapons with each strike: a spiked mace, a sharp spear, a flanged hammer. Selena, struggling to keep up, her kinetic shields flickering and failing under the sheer force of Zane's assault.
She dodged a final, devastating punch, but Zane's blood-forged left hand, now a whip of hardened crimson, snapped out and wrapped tightly around her arm. With a powerful tug, he pulled her off balance and slammed her hard against the stone floor. Before she could recover, Zane's right hand, a massive, brutal fist of blood, slammed down on her chest.
The impact was bone-shattering, a sickening crack echoing through the courtyard. Selena's eyes widened in pain and disbelief, a gasp of pure agony escaping her lips. She was pinned, helpless, and for the first time, she felt a flicker of genuine fear. Zane's blood-spear, already formed on his other arm, was a foot away from her face, its tip glowing with an ominous crimson light.
Just then, Lyra tackled him to the floor. The surprise attack, coupled with the immense, uncontained power coursing through him, made his body react instinctively, wildly. His blood-forged claws, still extended and razor-sharp, lashed out in a violent, uncontrolled arc. One of the claws caught Lyra's face, tearing a vicious gash from her temple to her cheek. She stumbled backward, a cry of pure pain escaping her lips, her hand flying to her bleeding eye.
The sound, a raw, pained gasp that was a stark contrast to the cacophony of the fight, made Zane freeze. His entire body went rigid. The crimson glow in his eyes dimmed, the furious red haze in his mind instantly clearing. His grotesque, demonic mask melted away, the blood receding back into his skin, leaving his face pale and slack with shock. The blood-spear, poised to strike, dissolved into a liquid and dripped harmlessly to the ground.
"L-Lyra, I—" he stammered, his voice choked with horror, his gaze fixed on her. He saw her face, marred by the deep, bleeding wound, her hand trembling as she held it to her eye, her purple eyes wide with a combination of pain and betrayal. The image of her bleeding face, caused by his own hand, was a thousand times more painful than any wound Xavier or Selena had inflicted.
Lyra's gaze met his, not with fury, but with a profound, bone-deep hurt. The look in her eyes was like a knife twisting in his gut, a silent accusation that shattered what little remained of his composure.
"Leave me alone," she said, her voice calm, but in a tone so filled with hurt and disappointment that it was more devastating than any scream. She didn't look at him again. She simply turned and, her body trembling, walked away, her hand still clutched to her bleeding eye.
Zane lay on the ground, his blood-forged armor dissolving into a pool of crimson on the stone floor. The raw rage, the all-consuming fury, was gone, replaced by a cold, numbing horror. He had become the very thing Kaelen had warned him against. He had hurt Lyra. His hand, still stained with her blood, felt like a foreign object, a monstrous thing. He had not only failed to protect Elias, but in his blind rage, he had attacked the one person who had shown him kindness, the one person who had brought him a moment of peace. The cost of his unhinged fury had finally become clear, and it was a price he didn't know if he could ever pay.