The creature broke free.
"Get away from the door!" Elian screamed.
I twisted the raven key.
The entire chamber shook.
Red lines spread across the black door, illuminating the carved face. The creature lunged toward me, its black eyes fixed on the key.
"KAELEN!" I shouted. "Whatever you did to piss this thing off, now would be a good time to explain!"
"I DON’T KNOW!"
"Wonderful!"
The creature struck.
I barely raised my Stonehide-covered arm before its fist connected. The impact hurled me across the platform, but I kept hold of the key.
My back slammed against a pillar.
Stone cracked.
The system flashed before my eyes.
\[ANCHOR FIELD: CRITICAL\]
\[SPATIAL DISPLACEMENT: RESTRICTED\]
\[SECOND DOOR: 19% OPEN\]
The creature turned toward Kaelen.
"You always hide behind someone else."
Kaelen picked up a broken piece of his sword.
"And you always talk too much."
He charged.
The creature met him halfway.
Kaelen swung the broken blade toward its neck. The creature ducked, drove an elbow into his chest, and swept his legs from under him.
Kaelen hit the ground.
Before the creature could follow up, Mara struck it from behind.
Her sword cut across its shoulder.
Black blood splashed onto the floor.
The creature turned slowly.
"Another interruption."
Mara tightened her grip.
"Come closer and I’ll give you another."
It smiled and swung.
She blocked the first strike, but the second forced her backward. Its third attack shattered her sword.
Mara stared at the broken hilt.
"Oh, you’re going to regret that."
She punched it in the face.
The creature staggered.
I couldn’t help grinning.
"That’s my kind of problem-solving!"
"Less talking!" Mara snapped.
"Everyone keeps saying that!"
Seris rushed in, striking the creature’s knee. Lyra fired a bolt toward its head, forcing it to turn away.
For several seconds, the chamber became a storm of steel, shattering stone, and shouted warnings.
Then the creature raised both hands.
The air exploded outward.
Seris crashed into a pillar. Lyra lost her footing, and Mara was thrown across the platform.
Kaelen rolled beneath the expanding shockwave, grabbed a fallen piece of metal, and hurled it at the creature’s face.
It struck its forehead.
The creature looked at him.
Kaelen shrugged.
"Found it."
Tomas shouted from behind a pillar, "Stop stealing my material!"
The creature’s expression darkened.
It disappeared.
My instincts screamed.
I dropped.
A foot swept over my head.
I rolled sideways, drove myself upright, and swung the raven key toward the space behind me.
Red light erupted.
The creature reappeared halfway through its movement.
Its eyes widened.
My fist connected with its jaw.
It stumbled.
I followed with a kick to the stomach, then drove my shoulder into its chest.
We crashed against the door.
"You’re not the only one who can learn," I growled.
It grabbed my throat.
"Learn what?"
Its fingers tightened.
"That you’re nothing without me?"
I slammed the key against its wrist.
The red light flared.
Its grip weakened.
I twisted free and punched it again.
"Honestly? I was hoping you’d tell me."
The creature struck my chest with its palm.
A burst of force sent me tumbling across the platform.
The key nearly slipped from my fingers.
I caught myself against the floor, coughing.
The creature approached slowly.
"You don’t understand what you are."
"You’re right."
I forced myself to stand.
"So explain it while you’re losing."
Its smile vanished.
Good.
I was starting to think nothing could annoy it.
Elian suddenly appeared between us.
"Stop!"
The creature froze.
For the first time, it looked uncertain.
Elian’s small hands trembled, but he kept his chin raised.
"You don’t belong here."
The creature stared at him.
"You were supposed to stay dead."
"People keep telling me that."
"You don’t remember what happened."
Elian’s expression tightened.
"Neither do you."
The creature lunged.
Elian snapped his fingers.
A silver chain erupted from the floor, wrapping around the creature’s legs.
"Kael! The key!"
"I’M WORKING ON IT!"
"Work faster!"
I ran toward the door.
The system flashed again.
\[AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED\]
\[HEIR AND VESSEL MUST BE SEPARATED\]
I glanced at Kaelen.
He was struggling to stand, one hand pressed against his chest.
"Kaelen! What does separated mean?"
He stared at the message.
Then at the door.
His expression changed.
"Don’t."
I stopped.
"What?"
"Don’t activate it."
The creature tore through the silver chains.
Elian was thrown aside.
Kaelen staggered toward me.
"If that door opens, it’ll take you."
I looked at the key.
"That sounds inconvenient."
"I’m serious!"
"So am I. I have a very strong preference for not being taken anywhere without my consent."
Kaelen grabbed my shoulder.
"Listen to me. The first time we came here, I was supposed to die."
The creature laughed.
"And you did."
Kaelen ignored it.
"Someone changed the outcome. Someone made you the vessel."
"Who?"
"I don’t know."
The creature appeared behind him.
"I do."
Its hand plunged toward Kaelen’s back.
I shoved the prince aside.
The strike caught my shoulder.
Pain ripped through me as I crashed onto the platform.
The creature stood over me.
"You really don’t know anything, do you?"
I spat out a breath.
"I know you’re annoying."
It raised its fist.
"Kael!" Elian shouted.
I activated the key.
The red circle beneath the creature expanded violently.
Its fist stopped inches from my face.
The creature stared at its frozen hand.
Then it looked at me.
"You little—"
I punched it in the nose.
Its head snapped backward.
"That’s for the introduction."
I struck again.
"That’s for the wall."
A third punch.
"And that’s for throwing me around."
The anchor field flickered.
The creature’s fingers began moving.
I backed away.
"Right. That’s probably enough."
It roared.
The red circle shattered.
The creature seized me by the collar and lifted me off the ground.
"You think this is a game?"
I struggled against its grip.
"No. Games usually have rules."
It slammed me into the door.
The raven key slipped from my hand.
It fell toward the floor.
The creature released me and reached for it.
Kaelen moved first.
He kicked the key away.
It skidded across the platform, stopping near Mara.
The creature turned toward him.
"You should have stayed dead."
Kaelen smiled bitterly.
"I’ve been told."
He charged with his bare hands.
The creature struck him across the face.
Kaelen fell, rolled, and caught its leg.
He pulled hard.
The creature lost its balance for a moment.
That was all Mara needed.
She grabbed a broken length of sword from the floor and drove it into the creature’s side.
It screamed.
Not in pain.
In rage.
It backhanded her across the platform.
"MAR A!" Seris shouted.
Mara struck the ground and didn’t move.
Something inside me snapped.
I rushed forward and slammed both fists into the creature’s back.
Stonehide covered my arms.
The first punch made it stumble.
The second drove it to one knee.
I grabbed its shoulder and pulled it backward.
"Look at me!"
It turned.
Its black eyes widened as I drove my forehead into its face.
We fell together.
I struck its jaw.
It punched my ribs.
I hit its stomach.
It caught my wrist and twisted until the stone armor cracked.
Neither of us let go.
Then it whispered, "You still don’t remember."
I froze for half a second.
It smiled.
"That’s why you’ll lose."
Its forehead smashed into mine.
The world spun.
It shoved me aside and crawled toward the raven key.
I forced myself upright.
"Not happening."
I launched myself at its legs.
We hit the ground again.
The key lay just beyond our reach.
The creature clawed at the stone, dragging itself forward.
I grabbed its ankle.
It kicked me in the face.
I held on.
It kicked me again.
I held on harder.
"LET GO!"
"NO!"
It twisted around and punched me.
My grip weakened.
Then Tomas appeared beside us and brought a heavy piece of broken pillar down on its arm.
The creature screamed.
Tomas stared at the shattered stone in his hands.
"That was a terrible idea."
I snatched the key.
"Good idea. Terrible execution."
"You’re welcome!"
The door began to open wider.
\[SECOND DOOR: 43% OPEN\]
A deep voice echoed from beyond it.
"Enough."
Everyone froze.
Even the creature.
The voice sounded like mine, but older. Colder.
The creature slowly backed away from the door.
"No," it whispered.
A long shadow stretched across the platform.
Something stood behind the opening.
I couldn’t see its face.
But I could see its hand resting against the inside of the door.
Five fingers.
A scar across the knuckles.
The same scar I had.
The figure spoke again.
"Bring me the vessel."
Elian scrambled backward.
Kaelen stared at the doorway, his face drained of color.
The creature dropped to its knees.
"No," it repeated. "You promised."
The figure ignored it.
Its attention shifted toward me.
I felt the raven key grow hot in my palm.
Then the system appeared.
\[SECOND DOOR: AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE\]
\[VESSEL CONFIRMED\]
\[HEIR CONFIRMED\]
\[SEPARATION CONDITION: FAILED\]
\[EMERGENCY PROTOCOL INITIATED\]
The floor split between Kaelen and me.
A wall of red light erupted from the crack, throwing everyone backward.
I reached for Kaelen.
He reached for me.
Our fingers almost touched.
Then the light swallowed the space between us.
"KAEL!" he shouted.
I tried to move.
My legs wouldn’t respond.
The figure beyond the door stepped forward.
The creature began screaming.
And the last thing I heard before the chamber disappeared was Elian shouting one sentence.
"DON’T LET IT TAKE YOUR NAME!"