The corruption writhed beneath Lyra's skin like a nest of serpents. She could feel it—the Scourge's presence, cold and calculating—threading through her veins with every heartbeat. Aelin paced the frozen ruins of the camp, her star-iron sword glinting in the Hollowing's sickly light.
"You let it *in*," Aelin snarled. "You touched the Stones, woke the runes, and now it's using you as a ladder to climb out of Umbra."
Lyra flexed her blistered hand. "I didn't *let* it do anything. The Scourge manipulated me."
"And you danced like a marionette." Aelin kicked the ashen remains of Thornspawn Tomas. "We have two choices now: kill you before the corruption takes root, or storm the Eclipse Court and shatter the Shattered Star before the Scourge claims you. Either way, someone dies."
Kellen stepped between them, his runestone shard raised. "We're not killing Lyra."
"Spoken like a boy who's never had to sacrifice anything," Aelin said, though her voice softened. "The Court is a labyrinth. Even if we reach the throne, the first Vessel's soul guards it. Eirlys won't take kindly to her bloodline betraying her legacy."
Lyra met Aelin's mismatched eyes. "You've been there. You know the way."
"And I barely escaped." Aelin sheathed her sword. "But if we're marching into the storm, we'll need more than hope. We need *her*." She pointed to the shard in Kellen's hand.
"The Stone?"
"The *heart* of the Stone. The elders kept fragments to control the Scourge's prison, but the core—the Sentinel's first lie—is buried beneath the village well. It's the only thing that can destabilize the Shattered Star."
Lyra stared at the boy. "Kellen, you don't have to—"
"I'm coming," he said, jaw set. "You freed me. I free you."
Aelin snorted. "Cute. Let's hope martyrdom suits you."
---
The well was a mouth of shadows.
Lyra lowered herself first, her boots scraping against moss-slick stones. The air grew colder, heavier, until her breath hung in clouds. At the bottom, she found a chamber older than Elmshadow itself.
The walls were carved with faces—dozens of them, their features eroded by time. Aelin brushed her fingers over one. "The first villagers. Sacrifices, not settlers. The Sentinel's original offerings."
Kellen's shard flared, revealing a pedestal at the room's center. On it sat a pulsing crystal, its light fractured and dim. Aelin approached it like a wolf circling prey. "The Sentinel's heart. Or the closest thing it has to one."
Lyra frowned. "It's… small."
"Power isn't about size. It's about *hunger*." Aelin unsheathed her sword. "Break it, and the Shattered Star in the altar above will destabilize. But the second this thing cracks, the Scourge will know. We'll have minutes to reach the Eclipse Court."
Kellen handed Lyra his shard. "Do it."
The crystal trembled as she raised the stone. For a heartbeat, she heard the Sentinel's voice—not a whisper, but a deafening roar.
***YOU WILL BURN WITH THEM.***
Lyra brought the shard down.
---
The world screamed.
The crystal shattered, and the chamber collapsed. Aelin hauled Lyra and Kellen into a crevice as the well imploded above them, Hollowing and stone alike sucked into a vacuum of light. When the chaos stilled, the sky was gone—replaced by a swirling portal of storm and starlight.
The Eclipse Court awaited.
"Stay close," Aelin ordered, charging forward. "The Court preys on doubt. It'll twist your fears into flesh."
They crossed the threshold.
The Court was a living nightmare. Hallways stretched and contracted like ribs. Stained-glass windows depicted Lyra's death in a hundred gruesome ways. The air reeked of burning hair and lilacs.
*"Lyra…"*
She froze. The voice was her mother's—dead a decade, yet clear as yesterday.
*"You've doomed them all,"* the voice wept. *"Just like you doomed me."*
"Don't listen," Aelin barked, yanking her forward. "It's not real."
*"Isn't it?"* The Scourge's laugh echoed through the halls. *"The Sentinel showed you the first Vessel's sacrifice. Now see mine."*
The walls dissolved, revealing a memory: the Scourge, bound in chains of sunlight, as the Sentinel carved its name from the world.
*"It took my voice. My legacy. My* ***face***," the Scourge seethed. *"You wonder why I crave your world? Because yours is the mirror that reflects what I've lost."*
Lyra's chest ached. The corruption in her veins writhed in sympathy.
"Don't," Aelin warned. "Empathy is a knife here. Use it."
---
The throne room was a garden of frozen lightning. At its center stood the Shattered Star, its amber veins now cracked and oozing black smoke. Above it hovered a woman—or the ghost of one—her features eerily mirrored in Lyra's face.
Eirlys.
The first Vessel's spirit opened her eyes. *"You return my blood to finish what I began,"* she intoned. *"But you bring shadow where there should be light."*
Lyra stepped forward. "You were wrong. The Sentinel isn't a savior. It's a parasite."
*"And the Scourge is?"* Eirlys's form flickered, revealing a corpse riddled with thorns. *"I chose the lesser evil. Now you must too."*
Aelin raised her sword. "We're choosing *neither*."
The Shattered Star trembled as Lyra drove Kellen's shard into its core. The Eclipse Court shuddered. Eirlys screamed.
And the Scourge arrived.
It tore through the throne room, thorns and starlight devouring the walls. *"Thank you, Vessel,"* it roared. *"Now witness the rise of a new god!"*
Aelin threw Lyra the star-iron sword. "Strike the Star! Now!"
Lyra hesitated. The Shattered Star wasn't just the Sentinel's anchor—it was the Scourge's too. Destroying it would free both.
But not destroy them.
"Lyra!" Kellen shouted, grappling with a tendril of Hollowing.
She made her choice.
The sword pierced the Star. Light erupted—and the Eclipse Crown collapsed.
---
---
**Preview of Chapter 6: The Twin Thrones**
As the Eclipse Court crumbles, Lyra, Aelin, and Kellen are flung into the void between realms. They awaken in a twisted reflection of Elmshadow, where the Sentinel and Scourge wage war through mortal puppets. To stop the carnage, Lyra must confront a devastating truth: the only way to end the conflict is to claim the Twin Thrones herself…and become the monster both gods fear.
Ready to walk the razor's edge? Let me know where you want the story to strike next! ⚔️