Chapter 37 - Enthrall

Thorval’s body twisted as sludge hardened into stone, wrapping around him like armour. Veins of green essence pulsed across the shell, glowing sickly in the gloom. His bellow shook the clearing—half man, half grinding rock.

From the treeline, Rikka cupped her hands to her mouth. “Fire!”

Elven archers unleashed a volley of exploding arrows. It was a huge target: all arrows struck true, peppering the construct with deafening explosions. The behemoth vanished into a cloud of smoke and dust.

The construct lumbered out of the haze, practically unscathed, bearing only a few scorch marks on its shell.

“By the Stonefather…” Gromul tightened his grip on his axe. “What in the nine hells is that?”

Neria’s eyes narrowed, blades raised. “That’s a monster.”

“The real monster is the one who made that.” Elith eyed Vaerina, who was still channelling magic into the ground, a glowing circle beneath her feet. She added, “Hold steady! He is unstable. The magic will eat him alive if we endure long enough.”

Her words steadied the line, but Renji felt a pit settle in his gut. Long enough might be longer than we can hold out, he thought.

Thorval moved.

One massive arm slammed into the ground, stone grinding with brutal force. The shockwave split the earth, knocking Elves and soldiers off their feet.

Renji stepped forward, golden aura blazing around him. He raised his sword. “Rikka, have the archers focus on the soldiers until Elith is ready.”

His voice dropped to a growl. “The rest of us will need to keep that… thing busy.”

Rikka’s command rang out again. “Loose!”

The Elven ranks shifted. Arrows hissed through the air. The corrupted soldiers raised their shields, but the barrage rattled their formation. Gromul surged forward with a roar, axe swinging, while Celia’s flames coiled higher, bathing the field crimson.

The fight wasn’t against a Duke anymore.
It was against the monster he had become.

“I’m not done.” Vaerina raised an open hand. Vines split the ground beside Thorval and twisted together to form a massive spiked club.

The construct seized the weapon in its huge grip and tore it free.

“Let’s see how hard that thing is!” Gromul charged forward with a battle cry.

Sorien, Renji, and Neria followed close behind. Elven archers, led by Rikka, covered their advance with volleys of arrows, keeping the remaining enhanced soldiers at bay.

Gromul’s roar split the air as he barrelled forward, his axe cleaving the first knight in two. Renji darted in behind him, golden aura flaring. His blade flashed once, and an enemy collapsed with his throat cut open.

Neria broke off, chakrams spinning toward Vaerina. The dark elf swept them aside with tendrils of green essence, answering with a volley of jagged spikes. Neria twisted between them, her advance slowed but unbroken.

“Tch. Annoying little gnat,” Vaerina hissed.

“That’s my line,” Neria shot back, steel ringing as she closed in again.

Above, Rikka’s command carried. “Joints and necks—loose!” Arrows streaked down in a storm of fire and shrapnel. Alina’s frost followed, locking a cluster of soldiers in place. Gromul and Neria pounced, cutting them down before the ice shattered.

But still they came. They were knights with holes in their chests, arms hanging by sinew, eyes blank and unblinking. They fought like puppets that did not know death.

Renji gritted his teeth. They don’t even feel pain.

Thorval lurched forward, club sweeping wide. The blow carved a trench through dirt and stone, throwing Gromul off his feet and forcing Renji and Sorien to dive aside. The Duke’s body was little more than a husk now—mouth foaming, veins black, the construct staggering like a beast on borrowed strings.

“He’s wide after the strike—hit the joints!” Renji barked, darting in.

At the rear, Celia crouched beside Elith, fire spiralling in her palms. “What she’s about to do takes a lot out of her. Lend her your strength,” she said.

Alina pressed a trembling hand to Elith’s shoulder. Magic essence bled from her fingertips, a warmth that felt both safe and strange. “I can feel it…”

Celia smirked. “Welcome to the deep end.”

Rikka’s horn sounded—three sharp blasts. The signal.

Renji fell back instantly. “Clear the field!” he barked.

Elith’s eyes snapped open, glowing bright gold. The ground itself answered. Spikes of crystal clear stone tore upward in a sweeping wave, impaling the corrupted soldiers where they stood. The earth split beneath Thorval’s construct, jagged spires driving through its feet and locking the beast in place.

Vaerina’s expression twisted. “So that’s what you were hiding.”

“What kind of magic is that?” Alina asked, stunned.

“Diamond spires,” Celia murmured. “High-order earth compression. No one else alive can pull it off.”

Elith rose slowly from her crouch, voice cold and steady. “The roots you’ve poisoned will be cut away, Vaerina—by my hands if no other.”

She pressed her hands together and her eyes glowed yellow again. Several of the spikes around the behemoth extended themselves and impaled Thorval through the chest. The construct staggered, frozen mid-thrash.

Thorval howled, straining against the crystal spires. The ground shook as cracks split the bindings, shards splintering under his thrashing.

Elith’s eyes flashed gold, forcing new spikes upward to hold him, her voice sharp. “Stay down!”

The construct swung violently, smashing pillars aside. Renji’s blade sparked uselessly against the hardened shell.

Thorval broke one arm free with a deafening crack and brought it down in a savage blow. Renji barely rolled aside as stone shattered where he had stood. The beast reeled forward, but Gromul’s axe spun through the air, burying deep in Thorval’s shoulder. The monster staggered—just enough.

Renji seized the opening. His magic essence surged, sword blazing as he leapt high. A single golden arc carved clean through Thorval’s neck.

The amulet tumbled free, clattering against stone. Thorval’s body slumped lifeless from the shell, and the construct collapsed around him in a rain of rubble.

“Corruption? I call it justice for a world that abandoned us!” Vaerina screamed.

“Give it up, Vaerina.” Renji pointed his blade at her. “Your Duke is dead.”

“My Duke?” She let out a chilling laugh. “He was just a tool I used.”

She lifted the Verdant Sceptre. The gem embedded in its crown pulsed—bright, steady, alive. Across the battlefield, Alina gasped as the crystal shard inside her chest flared in unison.

“One of many tools I own!” A pulse of magic thundered outward from Vaerina like a shockwave.

The blast knocked soldiers and Elves alike off their feet. Even Renji skidded back, planting his sword in the ground to anchor himself.

Alina dropped to her knees, clutching her chest. “Wh…what is this?”

Her body trembled. She tried to rise, but her limbs refused to obey. Her head jerked up, eyes glowing with an unnatural light.

“Alina!” Renji shouted, rushing toward her.

But then—

Wings of translucent ice burst from her back with a sharp crack. Frost swirled in the air as she lifted off the ground, drawn helplessly toward Vaerina’s side.

“No… stop! What are you doing to me?!” Alina’s voice trembled as she struggled, but her body wouldn’t obey.

Vaerina’s smile widened. “The Undine’s power is mine to command.” She raised the sceptre high, and Alina’s wings blazed brighter in answer. “Even your fire won’t touch me now, Celia.”

Celia snarled, flames raging around her. “You think hiding behind her will save you?”

She hurled a firestorm forward—but Alina’s body moved against her will. A wall of ice split the earth, surging upward to swallow the flames.

Renji darted in again, sword raised. “Alina! Fight it—come back to us!”

Vaerina’s laughter cut through the battlefield. “You’ll never reach her.”

Alina’s hands moved on their own, conjuring spears of ice that hurled Renji back. He deflected one, but the second tore through his guard and sent him sprawling across the ground.

He hit hard, rolling to his knees. Blood dripped from the cut on his cheek. Still, he rose. “I’m not giving up on you.”

More ice lances screamed toward him. He weaved between them, closing the distance. But each time he got close, Alina—her face twisted with horror—lashed out with more of Vaerina’s stolen power.

“Stop! Please, Renji, don’t come closer!” Alina cried, tears streaking her glowing face. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

Her plea only drove him on. He staggered up from another blow, his golden aura flickering.

And then—

A voice resonated within him, calm and powerful.

“Renji. To save her… you must destroy the Verdant Orb. Shatter the sceptre, and the chains binding her will break.”

Renji’s grip tightened on his sword. His jaw clenched. He forced himself to his feet, every muscle screaming, eyes locked on the sceptre in Vaerina’s grasp.

“Then that’s my target,” he growled.