Knock Down
“Split up, Myles!”
The woman’s voice shattered the stillness of the cold night, echoing through the towering Yew trees that stood like silent sentinels in the Thalmyran forest.
Myles didn’t hesitate. He spared one last glance at his mother—Iliana, the last Guardian of the fire element—before veering off to the right, slipping through thick foliage, his movements swift and silent.
His hand clutched the hilt of his sword tightly, his breath coming in sharp bursts.
“She’s too strong, Mum! We’ll die out here!” he cried, his voice trembling with panic.
“No. As long as I draw breath, we live.”
There was no fear in her tone—only fierce resolve. For a brief moment, it made Myles falter. But he knew better than to defy Iliana.
Going against her in battle was as foolish as walking into a wildfire barefoot.
He crept deeper into the forest, melding with the shadows and the eerie violet mist drifting through the air.
A sharp beep from his wristwatch made him flinch. Mana: 48%. At this rate, neither of them would survive the next hour.
Then the sky cracked open.
A storm of purple ice crystals rained down, a deadly enchantment known to be wielded by only one person.
Iliana moved swiftly, evading most of it—but one shard struck her shoulder, piercing the armour like paper.
She hissed through her teeth and yanked it out without hesitation, blood spilling from the wound, yet her pace never slowed.
She knew her pursuer wouldn’t be far behind. She was right.
Out of the violet fog emerged a cloaked figure, descending to the ground with lethal grace. Iliana lost an arrow from her bow—fast, precise.
It struck the figure square in the chest, but there was no reaction. The figure pulled the arrow free and tossed it into the air with a flick of her fingers.
It shattered into dust.
The hood fell back, revealing a face cold as polar ice—beautiful, merciless, unfeeling.
“Did you truly think you could defeat me, Iliana?” The voice reverberated through the trees, deep and commanding.
Iliana narrowed her eyes, her breath shallow. “Cryo Lady... Isolde?”
“I am. Surprised?” she replied, too calm for someone who had just been pierced by an arrow.
Isolde’s piercing amethyst gaze locked onto Iliana’s with unsettling intensity.
“You betrayed us all. Was it you who killed your twin as well?”
“Yes.” Isolde’s lips curved into a cruel smirk. “Now hand over the Odyssey Crystal.”
Iliana clenched her jaw. “You’ll have to pry it from my corpse. Lady Nerida entrusted it to me before she fell.”
“Then I’ll give you that corpse.”
With a flick of her wrist, a gleaming spear of ice materialised in her hand. The weapon glinted with pure elemental magic—razor-sharp and impossibly cold.
In an instant, she hurled it forward. The spear ripped through the air like a thunderbolt, slamming into Iliana’s chest and launching her backwards.
She hit a boulder with a sickening crack.
“Mum!” Myles gasped from his hidden position.
Iliana collapsed, blood dripping from her mouth—but her eyes remained open, alight with defiance.
Isolde strode forward, her weapon reforming in her hand, ready for the final blow. Iliana raised a trembling hand.
Iliana gave a signal with single, subtle movement: Now, Myles.
Myles didn’t hesitate.
Bursting from the shadows, Myles activated the enchantment on his sword. The blade shimmered with turbulent wind, its edge blazing faintly with residual heat.
His limbs ached from mana exhaustion, but he pushed through.
“TRAITOR!” he shouted, plunging the blade deep into Isolde’s back.
She screamed, staggering forward. Her spear clattered to the ground.
“A Guardian... cannot kill me,” she hissed, though her voice now carried pain.
A second wound bloomed beside the first, and for the first time, fear flickered across her icy features.
Iliana saw her chance.
With bloodied fingers, she retrieved the Redflare shard from her watch’s compartment—an ancient fire artefact capable of unleashing devastating magic, but only once.
She snapped it into place on her wrist interface. A fiery red glow burst into the air, illuminating the forest in an eerie crimson hue.
She looked at her son. “Myles. Listen to me. Step through that portal. Leave Thalmyra. Take the Odyssey Crystal. Guard it with your life.”
“No! I can still fight—”
“You’ll die, Myles. And I won’t allow that. I’ll hold her off.”
She flung the Odyssey Crystal into the air.
Isolde lunged for it, but Myles was faster.
“Seravok Ignarun!” Iliana shouted, activating the Redflare.
A crimson explosion erupted around her, a shockwave of elemental power forcing Isolde back. Using the energy surge, Iliana summoned a dimensional portal, swirling with wind and fire, glowing with unstable power.
She winced—her mana reserves were gone, her body on the brink of collapse. Blood soaked the earth beneath her.
Isolde, though injured, screamed in fury and hurled her spear again.
Iliana didn’t move.
The blade pierced her chest—but she held her ground, eyes locked on her son.
“Run, Myles.”
Then, a second blast from the Redflare detonated.
“MOTHER... NOOO!”
The force threw Myles across the ground. He clawed at the earth with his sword, trying to stop himself from being flung away.
He slammed into a stone, head cracking against it. Blood streamed down his temple.
Behind him, the Thalmyran forest roared. Mystical creatures howled. Trees shimmered, combusting into wild, unnatural flames.
Through the blinding light, Myles caught one final glimpse of his mother—her face broken, smiling faintly—before it all vanished.
In his palm, the Odyssey Crystal pulsed with dim, fading light.
The portal swallowed him whole.
He tumbled through the dimensional tunnel, his body weightless. Magic surged along the walls—glimmers of time, fragments of memory, echoes of lost Guardians.
He couldn’t open his eyes.
His mana was depleted. His body torn and bloodied. His skull throbbed with searing pain.
And then—nothing.
Myles blacked out, drifting through the void, clutching the last remnant of his mother’s legacy.
The fate of Thalmyra—and the Crystal—rested in his broken hands.
