Sand ripped across the Pyramids of Markilao like the whole desert woke up angry. The air burned with lunar beams and celestial bursts, every blast shaking the stacked stone blocks. Celestianites and Lunaranites were practically tearing the world apart — claws scraping armor, wings slicing wind, fangs flashing through the storm.
Blightscaw ducked behind a shattered pillar, his white scales flaring with stress. His golden eyes scanned the chaos while four Celestianites crouched behind him, gripping their glowing Divine Arrows — one shot each before the power fizzled. Miss, and they were done.
"Keep firing!" Blightscaw hissed.
He popped up, loosed a silver-tipped arrow, and watched it punch straight into a Lunaranite's shoulder. Another Celestianite followed, their shot forcing the enemy back before a lunar beam scorched the pillar into a glowing, smoking crater.
Blightscaw's claws brushed the Lost Key by his feet. Heavy. Ancient. Way too important for one Celestianite who definitely did not sign up for this level of stress.
"Where the hell am I even supposed to hide this thing?" he snarled. "Why me?!"
"Because you're the one they can't take down," one teammate said steadily. "You'll get it out. Our world needs you."
Another loosed an arrow and yelled, voice cracking, "Your family needs you! Don't freeze up, Blight!"
But Blightscaw barely heard them — because something shifted. A presence. A pressure. The kind that makes your spine lock up like stone.
A violet and black blur cut through the sandstorm, metal glinting.
King Dreadixz.
Twelve feet of Lunaranite warlord nightmare, decked out in spiked violet-and-black samurai armor, long blade humming with lunar energy. His jagged half-mask hid everything except one eye — an eye that locked right onto Blightscaw like he'd already decided where to carve him.
And in one sweeping strike, Dreadixz nearly split him clean in half.
Blightscaw stumbled back, wings flaring in raw panic—
CLANG.
A golden blur slammed between them.
King Vigilzante.
Eleven feet of pure Celestial muscle wrapped in radiant gold armor, wings blazing like dying stars. His long sword met Dreadixz's in a crash that blew sand across the pyramid like a bomb went off.
The two titans pushed against each other, sparks of lunar violet and celestial gold spilling everywhere. Vigilzante's armor was already scorched — dude was definitely getting cooked — but he refused to step back.
"Blightscaw!" he barked, voice gravel rough. "Hide the Lost Key. Now."
Blightscaw froze. "B-But your majesty— you're gonna—"
Vigilzante shoved Dreadixz back an inch, just enough to turn his face toward Blightscaw.
"That wasn't a suggestion," he growled. "That's an order! GO!"
The force in his voice punched the hesitation right out of Blightscaw.
He snatched the Lost Key, wings snapping open as he bolted into the sky. Sand whipped his face, stinging his eyes, trying to rip him out of the air. Every beat felt like shoving through a brick wall, but he powered through it.
"Don't think! Just move!" he gritted out.
Below, the war raged on. Dreadixz and Vigilzante's blades clashed again and again, each strike shaking the battlefield like thunder. But Blightscaw couldn't look back — not without losing the nerve he had left.
The top of the largest pyramid finally came into view, its sandy blocks glowing under the violent gray sky. Blightscaw landed hard, claws skidding across stone. He jammed the Lost Key into the square indentation carved into the peak—
And the world exploded in light.
White and gold swallowed everything. Shockwaves tore across the battlefield, knocking Lunaranites flat. The raging sandstorm collapsed inward, sucked into the burst of energy radiating from the pyramid — and from Blightscaw himself.
He lifted off the ground without flapping, suspended in the swirling magic as his scales lit up like molten gold. A ring of pure light blasted outward, slicing through the horizon.
When the glow finally faded, the indentation stood empty.
The Lost Key was gone.
And the Lunaranites were already retreating.