Although the students had finally entered the ruins, the work outside remained just as demanding for the institutions' staff. Beyond the great metallic doors, where the once-rowdy young maegis had gathered, researchers, guards, and teachers busied themselves with their respective tasks.
'High Maegi,' a Gorlian employee approached Talien. 'It's been a full day. Should we open the metallic doors?'
Talien, his expression as unreadable as ever, lifted his gaze to the top of the quarry, to the visible sky before giving a slight nod. Beside him, Noidron and Eglenn, the Ikshari Academy Master, stood over a map of the ruins' inner chambers, quietly discussing their plans.
'Noidron,' Talien called, his tone edged with something grim.
'Yes, sir?'
'Assist the aspirants with the door,' he ordered, turning his back before either Noidron or Eglenn could glimpse his expression.
'Sir? I thought I was to help with –'
Talien raised a hand, cutting him off. 'Your eyes are exceptional. If you put them to use, I'm sure you'll understand why I want you there.'
Eglenn frowned, puzzled. What did keen eyesight have to do with opening a door?
Even Noidron was momentarily baffled – until realisation struck. The high maegi wasn't talking about his physical sight. He was referring to his arcane sense. That was supposed to be a well-kept secret. Apart from Riniock, no one should have known about it.
Yet, Talien had somehow figured it out. Likely from the moment Noidron used it back at the academy.
'Very well,' Noidron said, stepping down from the platform without further argument.
As soon as he had the opportunity, he activated his arcane sense, an unseen glow pulsing faintly around him. His eyes shifted upward, towards the top of the quarry.
Traces of odh – high concentrations of it – lingered in the air, almost suffocating any who could notice them.
If he had any sense at all, this could only mean one of two things: either a powerful beast lurked above them…or a powerful maegi.
He and the aspirant reached the door and began the process of opening it. The moment the gap between the two massive doors widened just enough for a person to slip through, a deafening sonic boom shattered the air – someone had just broken the sound barrier.
Noidron barely had time to react before a blur shot past him. He turned just in time to witness Talien materialise beside him in an instant, striking at seemingly empty space. But then – something, or someone – was violently launched backward, crashing into the quarry's wall with enough force to make the entire structure tremble.
The aftermath was gruesome. Blood and shattered remains smeared against the rock, a grotesque mural painted in red upon the otherwise colourful stone.
'Sir –'
'No time, Noidron,' Talien cut him off, shoving both him and the aspirant through the doorway before sealing it shut behind them. With a few swift gestures, strange magickal light engulfed the slits between the doors, rendering the entrance impassable. It was as though only Talien himself could now pass through.
A heavy thud echoed behind him.
Talien turned, only for his usually unwavering composure to falter.
'Fladd…' he exhaled.
The academy master stood before him, a smug smirk curling his lips – an arrogance Talien had never seen from him before.
'Been a while, Talien,' Fladd greeted, his tone brimming with satisfaction. 'Miss me?'
In his grip, the neck of a struggling Gorlian was crushed beneath his fingers. Without hesitation, he lifted the man into the air. His free hand, wreathed in flames and smoke, then drove straight through the victim's back, emerging from the other side in a searing burst of flesh and embers.
Fladd tossed the lifeless body aside like a discarded rag and turned back to Talien with a smirk. He glanced at the dead maegi in the wall, chuckling as he faced Talien.
'Not going to attack me? Or are you too afraid to face me?'
Talien remained silent, his focus divided between Fladd and something – or someone – else.
Fladd sighed. 'Come down. He already knows you're here.'
A sudden gust stirred the air, sending grains of sand whirling skyward. From above, a powerful maegi descended, riding the swirling cyclone beneath his feet as he effortlessly hovered down the quarry's depths. His landing was light, like that of a feather, yet his presence was anything but. A quiet intensity radiated from him, an aura of unshaken composure.
'Fladd,' the newcomer spoke coolly. 'You failed to mention that the high maegi would be your target. That wasn't part of our arrangement.'
Fladd chuckled, unbothered. 'I know, I know. First the Absconder, and now the high maegi – I keep asking more and more of you and your spellswordsmen.'
The maegi's expression darkened, irritation flashing across his face. 'You seem to have forgotten my intervention that day as well. That giant ghost fish wasn't exactly easy to help flee from.'
A cold unease settled over Talien.
This man had helped Fladd escape the Emerser. Worse still, he had spoken of the Absconder – meaning it was likely already lost, its crew slaughtered.
At last, Eglenn found his voice, the weight of realisation crashing down upon him. 'Fladd?' he called, his disbelief giving way to horror. 'You're alive?'
Fladd shot him an amused glance. 'Oh, don't look so disappointed, Eglenn. This works out nicely. With the three of us here, Talien doesn't stand a chance this time.'
The foreign maegi frowned at that, clearly insulted by the suggestion that three were needed to handle a single opponent – one mortal man.
Fladd gestured towards Talien with a flourish. 'After you, Kilij.'
Talien stiffened. 'Kilij?' he echoed, the name striking a chord of recognition. His gaze locked onto the maegi. 'Kilij the Sandworm?'
Kilij turned his head slightly, meeting Talien's eyes. 'So you've heard of me. In that case…now that you've seen my face, you must die.'
Kilij wasted no time. With a flick of his wrist, the sands surged upward, twisting into a deadly wave aimed at Talien. Fladd and Eglenn followed suit, summoning flames of immense intensity and hurling them forward with unrelenting speed.
From the storm of sand and fire, a brilliant flash erupted – a streak of pure light cutting through the chaos. Talien emerged, unscathed, his counterattack already in motion. A flurry of luminous projectiles arced through the air, homing in on his three opponents.
His form glowed with radiant energy, his irises swallowed by a gleaming white void. Particles of odh trailed from his body like embers, coating his limbs in a shimmering haze. In an instant, a sword of light materialised in his palm. Without hesitation, he dashed towards Eglenn – the most vulnerable of the three.
His orbs of light veered mid-flight, circling before converging upon them. Talien struck first, slashing at Eglenn with deadly precision.
The latter barely managed to parry, but he was faltering. 'Help…' he choked out.
Fladd intervened, conjuring a shifting wall of fire that forced Talien back. But the moment's respite was fleeting – Kilij launched his next assault, summoning pillars of hardened sand to erupt from every direction.
The three bore down on him at once, fire and stone crashing upon him in relentless waves. And yet, Talien did not fall.
'Nasty bastard…how the hell is he moving like that?' Kilij growled.
He changed tactics, compressing the swirling sands into hardened spikes, millions of grains compacted into deadly bolts.
'I did warn you it would take all three of us,' Fladd muttered, channelling his power. A massive orb of fire crackled to life between his hands. 'Don't underestimate him.'
Eglenn, now regaining his footing, unleashed twin streams of fire, attempting to overwhelm Talien's shimmering ward of light.
'Now!' Fladd roared, releasing his spell.
Kilij followed suit, unleashing a storm of sand bullets – a barrage of death that tore through the air.
Talien remained within his ward, but instead of countering, he reached for one of his golden bracelets. With a simple stroke of his fingers, the gemstone embedded within activated and crumbled into dust.
His form shimmered – and then became as intangible as light.
The combined barrage of fire, sand, and raw destruction passed through him as if he were never there at all.
Blinded by their own attacks, they failed to notice his true position until it was too late.
A looming shadow stretched across the battlefield. Their gazes snapped upward. Talien hovered above them, suspended in the air without any visible means of support.
Then, with a single turn of his entire body, the space within the quarry ignited with countless tiny stars.
'Move!' Kilij shouted, raising a wall of sand around himself.
Before Talien could strike, Fladd reacted – his entire body bursting into flames. His temperature skyrocketed, the sheer heat liquefying the sand beneath him. The very air warped around him, distorting light and consuming everything within reach.
With an explosive release, his flames surged outward, vaporising the high maegi's magick before it could descend upon him.
But Eglenn – he was too slow.
The first of the stars struck, piercing through his body. Then another – and another.
The barrage was over in an instant, yet by the time it ceased, his corpse had not even hit the ground.
Even Kilij and Fladd did not escape unscathed.
The Sandworm emerged, battered, blood spilling from his mouth. His once-impenetrable sand barrier was riddled with holes.
Fladd, though alive, was near collapse. Maintaining his body temperature had drained him, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
Talien, too, had suffered. One of his bracelets completely crumbled away, metal and stone disintegrating into fine dust. The glow around him dimmed, his body visibly weakening.
'He's faltering…' Fladd muttered, his hand barely steady as he pointed.
But neither he nor Kilij could have foreseen what happened next.
A massive shadow loomed overhead, eclipsing what little light remained in the quarry. Its owner was far too large to squeeze through the pit's narrow mouth, but that did not stop it from trying. The creature snapped its jaws, forcing its fanged maw through the opening, widening the gap with each monstrous push.
'E–Emerser!' Fladd gasped.
Kilij stood frozen, his face betraying his alarm. This was the worst possible time for such a beast to appear – especially in a place with no easy escape.
The ground trembled as the emerser burrowed deeper, rock and soil cracking apart under its relentless advance. Its ghastly form plunged towards Talien, its yawning maw opening wider still, preparing to devour him whole.
Yet, as its teeth closed around him, Talien's soul did not vanish into the void.
Instead, he held firm, his hands forcing apart the emerser's spectral jaws with an inhuman strength.
'Gods…' Fladd breathed, his voice barely a whisper.
'How is he doing that?!' Kilij blurted, shaken to his core.
For a fleeting moment, the two maegis considered their next move.
'Should we kill him?' Kilij suggested, his voice laced with uncertainty. 'He's pinned – now's our chance.'
'Are you insane?' Fladd shot back. 'Kill him, and that thing turns on us!'
They hesitated, torn between action and self-preservation. If they left the high maegi to his fate, they were surely next. Yet, they knew firsthand that nothing they wielded could so much as scratch the voidspawn.
Talien trembled under the monstrous strain, his muscles quivering as his final reserves of strength drained away. One by one, his enchanted bracelets shattered, their power surging into him, fuelling his desperate defiance. But even that was not enough. His limbs buckled, his body faltering.
Just as the battle seemed lost, his lips moved – soft at first, then resounding like a thunderclap in their ears.
'Aslad, Star of the Old World. Shine through my skin, cast the Void, pry it away from sight. You whose shimmer is golden light…'
His golden circlet blazed, a searing brilliance erupting forth. The sheer radiance nearly blinded the onlookers, forcing them to avert their gaze.
The emerser reeled back with a shriek, its eerie wails echoing across the barren expanse. It writhed in agony, retreating from the quarry as the unbearable light seared through its very voided essence.
And then, silence.
The high maegi staggered. His body, drained of power, collapsed.
With a dull thud, Talien lay motionless.
Kilij hesitated, eyeing the unconscious man warily. 'W–What now?'
Fladd stepped forward, his gaze unwavering. 'We take him to Ikshar. He's too valuable to leave behind.'
Kilij scoffed, shaking his head. 'A hostage? You can't be serious. This man drove off the emerser – the same monster that devoured your disciples' souls. And you think keeping him alive is a good idea?'
Crouching beside Talien, Kilij reached for his blade, intent on ending things then and there.
'Patience,' Fladd murmured. 'I know I owe you a debt.'
Kilij's grip tightened. 'You bet you do…'
Fladd raised his hands in a gesture of peace. 'When the time is right, he'll be yours to kill. But for now, we need him alive. Without him, we have no protection.'
Kilij exhaled sharply but relented, stepping back. He was far from convinced, but he would follow – for now.
Then, as if reminded of something, he turned to Fladd. 'And the doors? How do you plan to get inside?'
Fladd approached the sealed entrance, the remnants of Talien's golden radiance still lingering on its surface. He pressed his hand against it – but the barrier held firm, impenetrable.
Clicking his tongue, the academy master sighed. 'Yet another reason to keep him breathing, it seems.'