He'd spent years preparing for combat.

Yet never once had Sorein needed to fight through the resonant throbbing in his veins and ringing in his ears. He was starting with a handicap, staggering upright as his vision swayed and the reality sunk into him.

Chiori's strong, stubborn Princess slumped against the far wall like discarded trash.

The voices filling the room were a chaotic smearing of words, there sounds penetrating his ears but still falling short as if it were a language he never heard before.

Sorein scanned the room, his focus swaying from the guarded position The Chieftains daughter took up before his friend, to his father barking orders from the steps of the dias.

Andrin Chakrine had already begun organizing the Royal Guard on his side of the ballroom, years of training washing away the exhausted look on his face in favor of confidence.

Despite the peace Chiori prided themselves in protecting, Solraidas and Nynoli were fluent in bloodshed no matter how internal. The Fae continent especially endured territory wars, considering they didn't not create unified cities as the rest of the world did.

The ringing in his ears began to fade as Sorein took in the massive abyss spreading down the side of the Aphyre and through the marble flooring. Creatures of shadow and malice spilled out from inside, their gleaming ember eyes and taloned fingers forming like a wives tale for the young. Their odor was the most wretched of all, plaguing the air with sewage soaked sulfur and salt.

He fought the grimace on his face, trying to concentrate. His fathers words finally began sinking into his head.

"-all Enrymis must make their way to the dias," he yelled out over the uproar. "Keep the children closest to any Castor's, prioritize sealing the barrier!"

Enrymis, he scoffed, shaking his head. Sorein could think of a plethora of words better for those without access to Mana. Still, he did agree their presence around the children would provide a buffer while the Therian Guards secured the grounds.

He wanted them shielded from the dangers before them.

"Sorein!" Jeremy yelled out, his teeth gritted as he fought off one of the shadowed entities. "Do you plan to stand there all day?"

No.

Not with the power flowing through his veins.

His eyes lingered on Iliya's unconscious body, watching as Qudja grasped vibrant green long swords in either hand, small daggers peeking out from beneath their hilts. Her eyes were honed in on the creatures before her, slashing and stabbing her way through the crowd of darkness.

"Seal the grounds!" Destry ordered throughout the room, her own hands bathed in golden light as she navigated the hall. She crafted sigils and wards through the air, attempting to build safe spaces. "Protect the Aphyre!"

Sorein scoffed, reaching out to summon a short sword crafted of ancient bone and engraved in silver. A weapon blessed by Karna herself and the one of the only capable of wiping a soul away from existence.

His birthright.

The weight was a welcome reassurance as he used his free arm to summon a shield of static.

"What–" he started, running one of the demons through the chest. "Happened?"

Jeremy kicked a eight foot creature back, swiping down low to cut it in half with swift efficiency. He hadn't been out of breath yet, but sweat streaked from his brow as he turned to Sorein. "When the prayers started... the ground started to shake and when the Aphyre began to glow–" his Captain winced in pain as dark sludge spewed from one of his injuries. "The moment your Sealing began, cracks formed down the Aphyre... some think it's a bad omen..."

Sorein moved with concentrated brutality, ducking under one of the clawed hands of a lanky deviant and slicing its arm off. He stabbed it through the heart, then beheaded another behind Jeremy.

"This certainly hasn't happened before," he said, eyeing the rest of the room. "Fear is a natural response."

Jeremy scoffed. "There are demons coming out of the ground, Sorein. I think it's a little more then natural."

Throughout the crowd, Sorein could find some familiar faces, but most were lost to him completely. The war of darkness around them had consumed the ballroom, eating away the firelight.

He watched Jeremy slick the poisonous slime out of his wound and flick it off his weapon, taking the appropriate precautions with his mana sweeping around them in a whirlwind of translucent electricity.

"Are you hurt?" Sorein asked, staring at the wound.

Jeremy shook his head, smirking. "No, the sludge is bothersome though."

He tried not to laugh at the lighthearted statement, but Sorein knew it was the Captain's way of keeping sanity.

No matter how hard he scanned their surroundings between breaks in the demons, he couldn't find Noah in the sea of panicking figures. Nor Rhydian for that matter.

Every ounce of him struggled as he refused to check on the Princess. Sorein knew if he saw anything wrong he might chuck Qudja in that abyss, whether she knew it or not.

So he kept his eyes on the fight, forcing himself to forget.

~ 🔮 ~

Through the ringing in her ears, each scream blended together in the most terrifying chorus.

Iliya barely had time to use her milky vision, peeking into a ring of darkness. Black claws scraped against an emerald wall of light, sending skitters of energy rippling with every pound of their fists.

Pushing the heels of her wrists into the marble beneath her, she scrambled back in shock. The wall held her in place, trapping Iliya in a world she didn't recognize.

Above her, Qudja spun two whip-like long swords that she'd never seen before. She used the large wall of energy to submit the entities while raking her swords through lines of bodies. As soon as the demons pressing against the wall were felled, more would appear.

Iliya took a deep, steadying breath and lifted her hand weakly. Twenty threads of golden light streamed from her into the shadows. Several were repelled, snapping back into her, but a few latched on to the more humanoid figures.

Soulless.

Many of them were Soulless.

Swallowing roughly, Iliya gritted her teeth as she latched onto those souls and ripped them directly out of the darkness. She whipped the torn mana back into the Aphyre, watching as the life force absorbed again.

Qudja swore to herself, glancing over her shoulder as Iliya began coughing. Something warm and thick ran down her chin.

"I'm sorry for this," her friend murmured. "Hei khalè zen."

Iliya felt confusion wash over her as Qudja freed one hand long enough to send a blast of energy into her.

She felt her head snap back into the wall as hot, liquid energy ravaged through her body. Her consciousness was ripped away.

~ 🔮 ~

Sorein's muscles ached as he fought, the burning in his arms from wielding his sword made him second guess the weapon. Despite being designed to slay the undead, the extra weight was dragging him down over time.

He watched Jeremy continue at his steady pace, his breathing barely labored as they made their way to the front entrance.

The less these creatures escaped into the city, the better.

On the dias, Sorein could vaguely make out Destry and a few Priestesses mending the minor cracks in the Aphyre, while Ezre blasted amber light into the crevasse splitting the floor. Though hundreds of demons remained, his own father stayed by the King's side, slicing down the few that managed to escape his blaze. They worked with brutal efficiency as another Priestess knelt down before the gaping abyss and began chanting her prayers.

For the first time with his back to the door, he caught sight of Noah. His suit jacket discarded somewhere, leaving only a torn collared shirt and rolled up sleeves. The battle hardened glint lingering in his eyes, frightening. He stood with several of the Therian Guards who'd be placed to protect the human attendance, short sword in hand.

Sorein scanned the ballroom again, cleaving through the head of another strange creature with razor sharp teeth.

The bubble of green aura he'd been carefully ignoring in the corner had begun to grow dim, swarms of the demons climbing on top of one another and consuming the light. Even though the shield held, he couldn't help but wonder how long the Chieftains daughter could keep it up.

Alone.

They were alone in that bubble.

Sorein couldn't see Rhydian anywhere, his sight snagging on an occasional glimpse of a thin trident and golden tail, the only hint of Nixian as he used his incredible speed and agility to maneuver the thickest clusters.

The Nerydian male dodged in and out of the shadows as if her were playing with children, a small smile even tugging at his lips in satisfaction.

He wanted to call out, to order Nixian to help Qudja's growing dilemma, but when his mouth opened to speak large claws scraped his cheek.

"Sorein," Jeremy barked. "Focus!"

Sludge seeped into the cut and made him hiss out in pain, stinging as he tried to swipe it off.

"What in Heilos is that?" Sorein spat, grimacing.

"You think I know?" Jeremy grunted, splitting one of the demons down the center. "What are these things, anyway?"

Sorein grumbled, exhaling sharply. Another three entities were already closing in on them. "Less talking, more killing."

He could've swore he heard Jeremy huff a laugh.

Without consulting his father or having a moment to think, Sorein couldn't begin to remember what these demons were. Creatures of the Underworld, no doubt. Yet it was impossible to know where they came from or how lethal they actually were.

Andrin had answers, he was certain.

But securing the ballroom took precedent.

Sorein knew the screams were dying down in favor of the sound of magic and metal clashing, but he wasn't certain if it was a good thing.

Casualties.

There would be casualties today, he realized as he sliced down another thick shadow.

The smell of blood now accented the sulfur in the air, spatters of it smearing against the white marble beneath them. Black smoke filled the air, wisping over the ground in clouds of mist and enveloping most of the gore.

One of the only sources of light left to him was the green orb of light, disappearing inch by inch.

Sorein went rigid as the light disappeared completely, swallowed by giant black masses.

They were alone in that bubble.

He could hear his heart racing in his ears as he destroyed two more demons, his teeth grinding together.

Jeremy impaled another creature aiming for Sorein's back. "You have to pay more attention!"

Sorein tried.

Noticing a few larger, more solidified silhouettes outlining the shapes of misshapen men. Corrupt spirits with leftover consciousness, some kind of brain. They grabbed unsuspecting people, slamming them into walls and shredding through their clothes.

Another scream erupted over the sound of battle, a woman's crippled frame thrown through the piano forte.

"We have to kill the big ones!" Sorein called out to Jeremy. "They'll kill everyone."

His Captain only grunted in response, nodding.

They would survive.

He hadn't realized when he'd begun chanting it to himself, using the reassurance to push more energy through his veins.

They would survive this.

Sorein swallowed back his exhaustion and lunged for the nearest demon, prepared to take on the one terrorizing the humans.

They needed to survive this.

So he put his head down and tuned out the violent screams, slicing into every shadow that moved.