"I will not surrender to you," she hissed. "If you want me, come and take me."
Her aim was not to fight; it was to gain enough distance for the Portal's opening to be discrete and stable. In that instant of desperation and clarity, Lilith's mind plucked a memory buried deep beneath Elara's lessons: the Aerial Invocation.
I wish I'd remembered that sooner to get down the hill, she thought, with bitter Rancor.
Without looking at Theron, Lilith focused on the pure energy surrounding the Grandmaster. She did not absorb it; she mirrored it. Within seconds, the pure Light bowed to her will, and a creature materialized at her side: an Aether Griffon with white feathers and a golden beak.
In one fluid motion, Lilith mounted the creature. The Griffon spread its massive wings, lifting her into the air. Her plan was simple—fly toward the continent's center, away from the edge, and open a safe portal within the forest.
In my head, this was supposed to work, she thought, feeling the icy wind whip against her face.
"After her, Kaelus!" Theron roared, his voice burning with fury.
The young Master Kaelus needed little encouragement. He was known for his speed and precision. Drawing a short bow made of mystic ebony, he took aim. A single arrow, infused with concentrated Aether light, shot from the string like a streak of silver lightning.
The attack was not meant to kill. It was meant to disable.
The arrow struck Lilith squarely in the left thigh, piercing flesh and instantly numbing her leg. At the same time, the arrow's pure Aether energy rippled outward, destabilizing the Griffon's manifestation. The creature let out a guttural cry of agony as its luminous form began to dissolve.
Pain exploded through Lilith's body as she lost control of the Griffon.
With a strangled gasp—half pain, half despair—she and the creature plummeted from the sky, falling toward the edge of the Aether Continent.
The fall was brutal. The Aether Griffon disintegrated into particles of light before it hit the ground, but Lilith was not so lucky. She slammed onto the rocky edge of the continent, the arrow's pain in her thigh joining the searing impact of the fall, forcing her to spit blood onto the cold soil.
The wound in her left leg pulsed with the caustic Aether energy imbued in Kaelus's arrow. Lilith gritted her teeth against the pain and, with a muffled cry, grasped the shaft of the arrow. She pulled. The obsidian tip tore the flesh as it came free. The wound, far from sealing, burned with agonizing pain. She couldn't even bear the weight of her body.
She was immobilized.
It didn't take long for the encirclement to close. About twenty lower-ranked Sentinels emerged from behind the crystallized Aether trees that ringed the field. They didn't fly; they advanced on foot, forming a tight circle around her, their containment staves ready.
Shortly after, Grandmaster Theron and the three Elite Mages landed lightly in the center of the ring, the light from their Aether discs mercilessly illuminating Lilith's fallen figure.
Theron looked at the wound in Lilith's thigh, at the pool of blood, and at her useless arm. His smile was one of absolute, cruel triumph.
"See, Lilith?" His voice was full of disdain and authority. "There is nowhere to run. You are surrounded. It was a mistake to try to fly. You could have died without pain, and the General would have remained silent. Now you have forced us to this."
The truth was clear. Theron did not want to negotiate. He wanted to watch her break—and then seal her forever.