Grass sharpened into spears, roots tore from the ground like living serpents, and flowers wilted under the heat of Elarian's cursed dark magic and ice. The air trembled, charged with two opposing wills—nature's fierce resilience and an immortal's relentless hunger.
Yevana stood at the center, her blue-green cloak fluttering, eyes blazing with violet light. The grass beneath her feet bent, then surged upward as if bowing to its queen.
"You've already overstayed your existence, Elarian," she said, her voice low but carrying the weight of centuries. "You should have stayed sealed in the Gate or better still locked up in an eternal damnation."
Elarian chuckled darkly, his silver hair matted with ash, his clean skin glowing faintly with infernal runes. "And miss this reunion? No, my dear forest witch. I was made to hunt powers, and your little First Flame's awakening has lit the whole world like tinder."
He extended a hand. Black fire erupted, consuming the roots that tried to bind him. The earth cracked beneath his step, but Yevana's hand flicked upward—new vines surged, thicker, thorned, snapping like whips. One wrapped around his wrist, drawing blood from even his cursed skin.
Elarian hissed. "So, the keeper of nature still knows her to bite."
Before Yevana could respond, the sound of rapid footsteps approached.
Beatrice burst onto the field, breathless, her dagger drawn. Behind her, dragging a weakened body wrapped in a cloak, was Aila. The woman's face was pale as death, but her blue coloured eyes glittered with something sharper than just being beaten.
"Beatrice—what are you doing here?" Yevana snapped, momentarily distracted as roots shielded her from another blast of dark magic.
Aila coughed delicately, her voice soft as falling snow. "It's nice to watch two lovers fight. And I want to see Allison fight, I've heard so much but haven't seen her fight."
Beatrice stiffened, shoving Ailah further back. "Stay quiet. If you so much as move toward Allison, I'll end you." Her voice was icy, sharper than her blade.
Elarian's grin widened. "Ah… so the pieces gather. Yevana, the keeper of nature. Gu Ni, the wolf in shadow." He tilted his head, silver eyes flashing. "Shall we make this interesting?"
With a roar, his dark magic surged outward like a tidal wave, burning vines to cinders, cracking earth into molten scars.
But Yevana slammed both palms into the soil.
The world answered.
The ground erupted with a forest reborn—grass sharpened into thousands of green blades, towering trees burst skyward in seconds, and vines as thick as chains lashed around Elarian, pinning his limbs. For the first time, the cursed immortal staggered.
Wind screamed suddenly through the battlefield. Alexa arrived like a tempest, her eyes fierce. "Mom. Step aside!"
She hurled a cyclone that merged with Yevana's roots, twisting wind and earth into a vortex that encased Elarian.
For a heartbeat, it seemed the immortal might actually fall.
But then Aila laughed—a low, chilling laugh that didn't belong to the sickly woman. Her silvered eyes gleamed unnaturally bright.
"You can bind him for a moment. But you cannot kill him," she whispered. "And every moment you waste fighting him… Allison burns brighter. And brighter and maybe consumed."
Her words fell like venom.
Beatrice grip on her dagger tightened.
The air was thick with the clash of energies. Roots erupted from the ground, spiraling into spears at Yevana's command. The soil itself seemed to writhe as she raised her arm — grass blades sharpened into knives, lashing toward Elarian with the fury of a storm.
Elarian, tall and cold-eyed, batted them aside with one sweep of his cursed blade, shadows seeping into the soil to rot Yevana's creations to dust.
"You never learn," his voice was silk over steel. "See how love makes you weak, Yev. You were stronger than this."
Yevana's eyes flared. " You don't know what love is." Elarian has cut through both her and Alexa's force earlier. Alexa was focused on the ghouls now as her mother has commanded her to face.
The earth split beneath them, vines wrapping around Elarian's legs, glowing with her life-force. For a moment, she pinned him. But then—
A voice, smooth and venomous, drifted into the battlefield.
"Still fighting for him, Yevana?"
Yevana froze. Her gaze snapped to the side.
"You…" Yevana's voice cracked.
Aila smiled faintly, brushing the dust from her black gown. "I wonder if you still picture his hands on you… or if you see mine instead." She looked at Elarian with a lazy smirk. "He didn't push me away. That's the part that hurts, isn't it?"
Yevana's vines wavered, faltering under her trembling rage.
Elarian's jaw tightened, but he said nothing. His silence was the cruelest confirmation.
Before Yevana could strike, Aila raised her hand with the two long daggers rushing towards Yevana. It would've crushed Yevana had Beatrice not leapt forward, her daggers wrapped in lightning spinning with precision.
Metal clashed against metal, sparks exploding in the air.
"You chose the wrong battlefield," Beatrice hissed, standing between Yevana and Ailah. "I don't care who slept with who. You're a threat and I deal with threats."
Yevana's breath shook, fury and grief mingling, as the fight spiraled into chaos.
---
Moonlight fractured across the place where Li Anya stood. She was breathtaking still crueler, sharper but still the ghost of the woman Lucian had once loved.
Their clash sent shockwaves through the night. His silver blade of moonlight clashed against her burning whips, sparks scattering like stars.
"You should've stayed dead," Lucian growled, his voice rawer than he meant.
Li Anya laughed, the sound dripping venom. "And miss this opportunity to be with you? No, Lucian… I'm here to remind you of what you lost. What she can never give you."
Her borrowed imperfect flame cracked against his defenses, pushing him back a step. Her eyes glistened with something darker than hatred — possession.
Lucian's grip on his sword faltered just slightly.
Li Anya smirked, eyes narrowing in triumph. "Our bond isn't something your little flame can burn away. That part of you… belongs to me."
The field echoed with crackling tension. Li Anya's smile was twisted, beautiful in a venomous way. Blue flames licked around her arms as she circled Lucian like a viper.
"You tore them off for her," she spat, eyes burning with jealousy. "For Allison. You gave up what made you eternal, divine—your wings. And you did it because of a mortal girl. I know I wasn't in you life at that time."
Her voice cracked into a scream, every syllable tearing out her fury.
"I have them now, Elarian gave it to me to gift you." She hissed, raising her arm. Behind her, shadows shimmered into existence—two luminous black-feathered wings, jagged and corrupted. "Your wings. Mine to wield. Mine to carry your power. And she—" her hand slashed through the air as if cutting Allison's memory in half, "will never have them."
Lucian face remained an unreadable mask, his presence heavy as moonlight and shadow fused. His silver eyes glowed faintly, but his voice was ice,
"Keep them if you live here alive. They mean nothing to me."
Li Anya faltered, lips parting as if the words physically struck her. For the a long time, her composure cracked. "You… don't care?"
"Yes." His gaze was sharp, merciless. "I tore them away because love bound me, not power. If you believe carrying my broken wings will bring me back to you, you are more pitiful than I thought."
Her fury ignited again, the ground shaking as her blue firestorm erupted. "You will regret this, Lucian. I will make her bleed for every feather you abandoned!"
While Li Anya's rage thundered, outside the courtyard was chaos. Alexa stood on shattered marble steps, her hair wild, her eyes blazing with a sharp glint. Ghouls crawled out of the ground, their shrieks filling the night.
Alexa lips curled into a dangerous smile. "You monsters picked the wrong witch."
She swept her arm, and the winds obeyed. Cyclones spun into life, slicing through the horde. Clothes ripped, bones cracked, and dust rained like ash. But for every ghoul shredded by the storm, two more clawed their way up from the cursed earth.
Alexa clicked her tongue. "Persistent little pests…" She stamped her heel, wind gathering around her in a spiral. "Fine. Let's see how you fly."
The wind howled into a vortex. Ghouls shrieked as they were lifted, flung skyward, their cries cut short when the storm tore them apart mid-air. Blood rained down in crimson arcs, and Alexa's silhouette stood proud and unyielding against the tempest she commanded.
Still, more crawled. Dozens. Hundreds. Their eyes glowed red, their rotten jaws chanting in unison.
"Blood of the Flame… Blood of the Flame…"
Alexa chest tightened, realizing that they weren't after her alone. Their main objective was to take Allison.