Halcyon's lips curled into a weak smile, her skin felt clammy. Lucian brushed the sweat from her head.
"Come on." he said gently.
Grasping her trembling hand, slowly pulling her onto her feet. She leaned against him, one arm slung over his shoulder. Her legs barely stable, her body still reeling from the psychic storm they had just endured.
Whatever happens next Halcyon won't be able to doing herself nor help me… Hopefully this was the final encounter before the trap. Right now neither of us could, run into whoever we saw… Could that person be the owner of the crown relic? Maybe the guardian before there destroyer?
Lucian hoped, this was the final trial before the trap was sprung… As they felt forced passed through aiming to take control their bodies or mind…
He helped a limping Halcyon into the center of the ancient teleporter etched into the floor. A warmth spread through her chest and limbs.
As they stood in its center, their bodies twisted, turned, then folded into the weave of space. A pulse of energy surged outward…
And they vanished.
When their vision cleared, Halcyon's eyes widened as she took in their new surroundings. Lucian composed, gaze narrowed around, his heart race slightly.
"…This has to be it. The Crown Relic's chamber."
Ahead was a massive metallic, ancient door metallic, pulsing with pale green energy. Glowing sigils flickered across the stone walls.
Halcyon forced herself to walk off his help… he made sure to see if she would fall. Her nose perked up, as she sniffed she got the scent of iron and something older… sour and sacred…like salt and blood?
It coiled through the chamber almost like it was a smoke they couldn't see… they noticed that it formed a protective seal, that had kept intruders at bay for centuries.
"After months of searching… I'm finally here," she whispered.
"Wzoom!"
The moment Lucian stepped forward. The chamber rejected him. A green barrier appeared. The moment he stepped back, the ground hissed violently, reacting to their presence.
"Ahh!"
He turned, the moment he heard Halcyon screamed. And, saw he collapsed to one knee, her body trembling. Blood spilled from her lips, and dark veins beneath her skin, spreading like corruption.
"Sunny!"
Lucian dashed across, dropping beside her, panic rising, in his chest. He heard her shallow breathing, her energy flickering like a dying campfire.
"Sunny. What's wrong?"
Halcyon's eyes rolled to the of her head."I… can't…" she choked out, clutching his cloak. "It's… getting worse."
Lucian's jaw clenched tightly. He had no idea what was happening… no diagnosis, no cure. His gaze settled on the barrier ahead… and the decision he'd sworn to avoid.
Damn it… She needs this more than I ever could. Lazarus doesn't matter anymore… not when she's dying. I tried to stay away… but I can't. I won't. She needs me now… and I'll become whatever monster I have to if it means keeping her alive.
He swift decided. Even if he had no power… It wasn't much but, he had one last reserve of power… locked away, forbidden. It had been passed to him through Halcyon's blood. He had vowed never to use it unless he had no choice.
That time had come.
He frowned, his seen Halcyon blood flowed onto the sand.
But still… he hesitated.
Instead, he fumbled through his robes and pulled out a Z'ak crystal... He gently leaned Halcyon against the wall and dashed toward the barrier. He slammed the crystal against it.
He felt there must be another way before the worst choice… It seemed he really did mean he will die to save her.
No response.
Again. And again. "Come on!" he shouted. "Work, damn it!"
"How ancient are you?"
He couldn't find a connection. He never saw this, style of barrier before nor had this trouble with his Z'ak crystal before.
He looked up as he remembered, the mind illusion that he saw someone, he couldn't help but think of them.
His eyes flashed. "Is the relic's guardian still here? Are you dead and still clinging to this place?!"
"Uhh!"
He heard a groan from behind him.
He turned. Halcyon was writhing, her blood becoming black. Her body shaking violently.
"Halcyon!" He ran to her, holding her close as more blood spilled out of her.
His head snapped to barrier, his eyes glinted red briefly. "We passed every trial. Why are we being punished now?!"
Still, the barrier stood. All the words he said to whoever he saw, all he saw was alot more blood was flowing out of Halcyon… He really had no choice.
Had he been a fool to think he could protect her without embracing the part of himself he feared most? Why did he hesitate for so long to use his true power? Was it pride… or fear of what he would become?
Lucian reached deep within… to a place sealed shut by energy and memories. His body was constantly exploding energy, something red moving around. He touched a sliver of his soul. It shimmered of a iridescent, pure… and excruciating light.
Fire lighting behind his eyes... He tore a piece of his soul free…
A pain hit instantly… like fire running through every nerve... His vison twisted and swayed blurred, deep breaths burnt him. As he coughed blood onto the sand.
A soul tear trial without a full incantation is usually fatal, he risked knowingly.
Still, he pressed his now bloodied palm to Halcyon's chest. He forced his energy into her.
At that moment, the room reacted. The barrier shrieked like metal grinding against metal. Runes flared, the winds howled. Salt sigils began to dissolved in the air.
"My energy destroyed the barrier… Good."
Lucian's energy had always been suppressed… It already challenged him to break out, that almost tore his body apart. As it was moving wildly and he forced it out… Halcyon's energy situation, his energy was so powerful it also cuased her convulsed in his arms.
His eyes closing briefly in silent thanks.
Before he looked at her eyes slowly opening, as the vein disappeared her eyes glowed faint orange, before it returned to normal brown, he saw her lips moved, so he brought his ear down to her mouth.
Halcyon whispered. "Lucian..." her voice no longer trembling, but it was weak still his energy flowed through her, empowering her, stabilizing the chaos within.
"You have to get us out," Lucian rasped, he began breathing heavily. "I gave you… enough. Only you can do it."
He had to get out from here as he during the destruction of everything. The chamber door slid open… The Seeker Eye, there was something off about the way it looked.
Halcyon forced herself upright. "No… We can't. I need that relic."
Lucian hesitated… then helped her to her feet. He didn't speak. He just guided her toward the chamber. He didn't know how to tell, she should see herself.
He helped her trembling legs and arms, limping her slowly, toward into the chamber.
She smiled faintly… Glancing around, until she saw it.
An empty altar. Only dust remained.
Her heart dropped. "Where is it?"
Lucian looked away. "It's gone, Halcyon."
She stared in disbelief. Everything she had endured… the continent she'd crossed, the monsters she'd fought, the illusions she had survived… it had all led to nothing… So she broke.
"Boom!"
Lucian staggered as a sudden shockwave burst from her… It wasn't physical… it was physic, it attacked his mind a bit, made him wince.
"Ahh!"
Suddenly, he heard a scream erupted from Halcyon's soul. A cry so raw it pierced the room. Lucian fell to his knee, clutching his head, covering his ears… The sound attack his inside and outside.
Still, he held Halcyon tightly in his arms, he bit his lip without realizing.
No... no no no no... It's not gone. It can't be gone. It's supposed to be here. I bled for this. I suffered for this… I killed when I swore I never would. All for this moment. You said it would be here. Gloria swore to me the prophecy pointed to this altar.. I was willing to bear it all every scream, every scar, every night I woke up choking on nightmares just to make this worth it. So why... why is it empty? Where is my reward? Where is the thing I sacrificed everything for?
Why did her soul scream? Was it mourning what she lost… or warning what still remained inside her?
As a minute passed, the sound faded. She slumped in his arms, unconscious… but while he wanted to find out what happened he frozed… he didn't hear her heart beat.
"Sunny."
I must get her out of here, there has to be something home that could help her… We will find another way for her sickness. Won't give up so easily.
Lucian held, Halcyon tightly he looked up he needed to leave right now… his finger curled into a fist, his muscles tensed he hoppped into the air straight at the center of the ceiling.
"Boom!"
He used all his strength remained, to smash a hole out the chamber… as it was useless now that nothing was here and maybe never will be.
Halcyon's scream didn't just express pain… it sent out a psychic ripple. Somewhere across the world, someone felt it.