The battlefield quieted, the storm breaking as Kael leaned on Liora, his wound bleeding through her makeshift bandage. The Void entity loomed, its tendrils retreating, but Torv's dying words about a third shard haunted them. Liora's silver eyes scanned the horizon, her voice urgent. "We need to find it before the Council does."
With the task force regrouping, Liora led a stealth mission, her Lunari agility guiding them through the shadowed plains. Kael, despite his injury, insisted on joining, his broadsword a crutch. They infiltrated a Council hideout, the air thick with tension, and found the shard—its dark pulse stronger than the others—guarded by Veyra.
As Liora reached for it, the shard bonded to her, its power flooding her with visions of the entity's growth and draining her strength. She staggered, gasping, while Kael caught her, his golden eyes wide with fear. "Liora, let it go!" he urged, but she clutched it, determined. The mission succeeded, but the shard's toll left her weakened, Kael's worry deepening as they retreated, the third shard's power a double-edged blade.