Chapter 59 – Echoes of Obruhn
They left the altar chamber with hearts heavy and steps quiet. Though the spinning chains of Obruhn's tomb had paused, the silence that followed was far from comforting. It was a silence that throbbed beneath their skin, like a predator watching from the shadows—waiting for its moment to strike.
The spiral path twisted back upward, lit only by the faint glow of their glyphs. Each one of them walked in their own storm of thoughts, shadows clinging to their shoulders.
"He knows our names," Lucy murmured as they ascended. "I could feel it... Obruhn. He knew who we were before we ever entered."
"He knew what we feared most," Marcus added. "And he used it. Kitty's awakening wasn't just triggered by pressure. He forced it out of her."
Kitty kept her eyes forward. Her wings were hidden again, but the gold still pulsed faintly beneath her skin. "He didn't force it. He just opened the door. I walked through."
Tom looked back at her. "But now you're stronger. Just like Frank. That matters."
"Does it?" Peter asked. "Or is every power we awaken giving him more strength?"
Frank stopped at the top of the stairs and turned. "Then we use the strength to shut the door on him."
They emerged back into the ruined streets of Shav'Alin. But something had changed. The sky above was no longer still—it boiled. Grey clouds twisted in unnatural spirals, and the air was bitter, like iron and ash. The buildings groaned under invisible pressure.
Zane stepped forward, blades drawn. "Something's wrong. The city's shifting."
And then they saw it.
At the far edge of the temple square, something had risen. A figure stood amidst the crumbled stones, easily twice as tall as a man, hunched and twisted. It wore no armor, no robe, only a cloak of ash that fell from its body like dead leaves. Its face was a hollow mask of bone and smoke.
"That's... that's Obruhn," Peter whispered. "Or part of him."
"No," Neolin's voice echoed suddenly in their minds. "That is only the echo. His true form is still bound. But the echo is dangerous. You must destroy it before it anchors his soul into the world."
The creature moved. One step was like thunder. The city shook.
Frank charged first. Glyph glowing white, he hurled a bolt of energy that struck the echo's chest—but it passed through, leaving only a ripple. The echo didn't flinch. It raised one arm, and with it, the stones of the square rose like jagged spears.
Zane darted forward, slicing through them as they flew. "It can use the city!"
"Then let's use the storm," Tom said, leaping into the air, Palecto blazing. He brought his sword down on the echo's shoulder, and this time it screamed. Not a sound of pain—a chorus of ancient voices shrieking in unison.
Marcus slammed his shield into the ground, erecting a barrier around Lucy as she began inscribing glyphs in the air. Kitty took to the sky, golden light pouring from her wings, illuminating the battlefield like sunrise in a nightmare.
Peter crouched behind rubble, drawing complex runes on stone tablets. "If I can bind its form for even a few seconds, we can hit it with everything."
"Do it," Frank called.
Peter slammed the runes into the ground. They sparked, and chains of light burst from beneath the echo, pinning it in place. It howled, body convulsing.
"NOW!" Peter shouted.
Frank, Kitty, Tom, and Zane all struck together. Light, blades, energy—everything focused on the creature's chest. It shattered into smoke, ash bursting outward.
For a moment, it seemed over.
Then the ash reformed.
The echo reappeared, twisted even more grotesquely, its mask now cracked to reveal swirling darkness beneath. It lifted its head, and the sky cracked with a thunderclap that brought them all to their knees.
Lucy, bleeding from her hand, slammed her glyph into the stone. "No more!"
The glyph exploded outward, a wave of pure shielding energy erupting from the ground. It struck the echo directly. This time, it screamed and recoiled.
Kitty landed beside her. "You used a protection glyph... as a weapon."
"Sometimes protection means pushing back," Lucy said.
The echo staggered, its body flickering. The ancient chains around the city's edges began to glow, reacting to the battle. The seal was responding.
Frank stepped forward. His voice was steady.
"Obruhn. You wanted to rise through fear. Through our power. But you forgot what happens when we fight together."
He raised his arm. The others gathered behind him, each channeling their energy through their glyphs. Kitty, Tom, Zane, Lucy, Marcus, Peter. Each flame igniting the next.
And then Frank released it.
A beam of blinding light shot through the echo's chest, splitting it in half. The chains around the city erupted in harmony. Light overtook the square, and the echo screamed one final time before disintegrating into dust.
Silence returned.
But this time, it was a silence of victory.
They stood breathing heavily, surrounded by broken stone, melted glyphs, and scorched ground.
Marcus was the first to speak. "Was that really... him?"
Frank nodded. "Part of him. But it was enough. Enough to remind us what we're facing."
Peter wiped ash from his cheek. "It was like fighting the memory of a god."
Kitty closed her eyes. "And next time, it won't just be a memory."
The sky above slowly began to clear. The spiraling clouds faded, and sunlight, weak but golden, broke through. It touched the ruins gently, like a hand trying to comfort the wounded.
Neolin's voice returned. "You held the line. But Obruhn is far from finished. Return to the Sanctuary. There is more you must learn."
They turned toward the broken gates of Shav'Alin. One battle won. Many more to come.
But as they walked, none of them noticed the single shard of the echo's mask still lying in the rubble. A crack pulsed through it.
Obruhn was learning.
And he would return.