Emily took a step into the dark tower. The only sound was the groaning stone as it cracked around them.

  Bits of rock and dust fell around the large room and a set of stairs led up to the next level. Emily was about to head towards them when Alex put his hand on her shoulder.

  “Emily, relax. If he’s in here we’ll find him.”

  she glared at Alex and pursed her lips.

  “Easy for you to say. He didn’t torture you” Emily growled as she glanced around at the room's shadows.

  “I know, that’s why I’m here in the first place. You deserve whatever you need to feel better, but if we take the wrong step here, we’ll die. Namely, the stairs going up.” he said as he pointed to a staircase leading into the ground

  Emily frowned. She’d come through here multiple times, and it had never been there before, but now that he pointed it out, it was not hard to miss.

  It was a narrow set of stairs near the back of the room leading into a cloying hole.

  Emily frowned and shot a questioning look at him.

  Alex shrugged.

  “Mages oftentimes keep their tower's source power in the basement,” he said as he moved toward it.

  She wanted to argue that she’d never heard anything of the sort, but then again she’d never really questioned what made the tower work, just that it did.

  Letting out a steadying breath Emily stepped up beside Alex as they reached the dark stairwell and together they descended the stairs.

  Emily ran her hand along the smooth stone, using it to guide her down. The deeper they went, the warmer the stone became, as though it had been baking in the sun's rays all day.

  She was just about to fetch a torch from her pack when a sliver of light peeked through the crack in a doorframe.

  This gave them enough light to descend the final steps without issue.

  They continued until they got to the door, but waited at the opening listening for voices.

  No sounds came from the room save for a single harsh breath.

  There was a line of dead runes on the threshold of the doorway but neither of them paid the chicken scratch any mind as they tried to push the door open.

  Emily got it to move just slightly before she felt it catch on something from the other side. The gap was still too small so Alex began slamming his shoulder against it and the sounds of screaming metal from the other side caused the door to budge just enough for Emily to slip in.

  What she found was a small circular room that felt like a sauna. It was mostly bereft of furniture but there was a deep circular pool taking up most of the room. Now that Emily had a better vantage point she could see the reason they could not open the door was because a portion of the ceiling had caved in. The metal rods buried in the stone having been exposed.

  That was when Emily spotted Ariandel and Citta.

  By the looks of things, the cave-in had fallen on Citta, killing her swiftly.

  Unfortunately, one of the metal rods had shot through Ariandel’s leg and there was a ton of blood coating the ground so much so that the pool had turned a faint shade of red.

  His wound was cauterized and wrapped but when Emily found his eyes she saw they were clear and staring at her.

  “You know, when I felt my wards fail, I somehow knew it would be you,” Ariandel said in a faint voice.

  Emily scowled. This wasn’t fair. She’d come here for a battle to the death, not a mercy killing.

  The Silvaren watched as Alex tried to make his way into the room but then refocused on Emily.

  All the while she had begun to navigate the debris in the room.

  “I hope you don’t think you're going to get to die quickly,” Emily said as she edged ever closer.

  Ariandel grinned a toothy smile.

  “No, I never believed I’d get a merciful ending. Certainly not like this, but that's destiny then I guess.”

  Emily’s prowl had brought her right above the man. By the way his foot sank into the pool he had no energy left, but that didn’t mean Emily would let her guard down. He could have already taken a healing tonic.

  “Why haven’t you teleported yourself away,” Emily asked, curious.

  Ariandel snorted.

  “You must be teasing me. I don’t even have the energy to singe your eyebrows, let alone spatially shift. It all went to the council to keep the veil stable. And they couldn’t even do that.” he said a bitter tinge entering his voice.

  Emily watched his paws as she lowered herself onto her haunches.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “You know what comes next right?” Emily said in a hollow tone.

  Ariandel made a wry smile.

  “I don’t suppose you’d let me make up the betrayal in some way that didn’t involve my life,” he asked hopefully.

  Emily shook her head.

  “Ariandel, I’m not going to kill you because you betrayed me–at least that’s not the whole reason. It's because you tried to make me into a slave, and when you couldn’t do that, you turned me into a test subject.”

  The Silvaren’s paws twitched as a fresh sweat broke out under his fur.

  “I understand, but I can be of use to you. It wouldn’t hurt to have a friend in high places–or even a slave. I could sign a contract with you, give you my life.”

  Emily narrowed her eyes at the man.

  To be honest she was tempted. To have a man like him on her side was an alluring deal, but then again he was an incredibly slippery Mage, he might find a way to turn the tables on her and that was a possibility she didn’t want running around.

  A cold smile appeared across Emily’s face.

  “That’s not good enough, Ariandel. The city’s about to fall, and after this, I doubt you’ll survive long anyway. The Redeemers will either reprogram you into a devoted husk or execute you for being one of the elites. So, for what it’s worth, I guess this is the kinder ending.”

  A shiver ran down the man’s spine as Emily summoned her blood.

  “Wait!” Alex’s voice cut through the tense air, sharp with urgency. “Emily, get his foot out of the pool! He’s drawing too much!”

  Emily’s head snapped toward Alex, startled. She’d barely registered his presence since entering the room, but now she noticed the alarm etched across his face.

  Frowning, she glanced down at Ariandel. The leg she’d assumed had accidentally fallen into the pool was no accident at all—it was deliberate. Her stomach twisted as she realized it was a trap.

  An enormous surge of red energy rushed from the pool into Ariandel’s battered body. The room's temperature spiked, and the air became oppressive with heat and power.

  Emily swung her arm down in a chopping motion, her blood following suit, but the heat coming off Ariandel suddenly exploded like a solar flare.

  Emily's blood dried up and the world went white as she was sent hurtling back. Luckily something soft caught her and she realized Alex was right behind her.

  “We need to get out!” he shouted. “He’s purposefully overexposed himself to the tower source, he's transforming!”

  Emily tried to focus her eyes but she realized Ariandel had burned through her corneas with his little display. All she could see was a blurry room of shapes and flickering red all around them.

  Ruby guardian went into overdrive to heal her eyes, but it would take a second and Alex was already pulling her out of the room.

  The door was ajar but Emily could just make out a blurry form, flesh slogging off like wax as it ignited.

  Ashe had told her that when anyone reached the final stage of source exposure, it was a disaster, but for Mage, it was particularly bad. This was because the more source available in the system when they reached the point of no return, the stronger the monster that came out at the end.

  Seeing as this was a high-ranked Mage Emily didn’t foresee this being easy.

  Alex dragged Emily up the stairs until she could get her feet under herself and rush upwards. The heat was blooming from behind them. It was as though Ariandel were right behind them but glancing back all Emily saw was an ominous glow coming from the room.

  There was an inhuman scream and suddenly an explosion that shook the tower's foundations.

  Alex kept running until they were at the top of the stairs, picking Emily up each time she tripped.

  By the time they arrived on the ground level, her eyes were completely healed, and as they rushed out into the light Emily’s fresh pupils dilated in the moonlight, causing tears to blur her vision once more. Behind them, the tower groaned and she could hear the structure collapsing in a wave of air pressure.

  They both coughed violently as dust filled their mouths and lungs, their breaths ragged and shallow. Emily opened her watering eyes, blinking rapidly to clear the haze, and froze as a monstrous figure emerged from the ground. It was a creature of flame and molten stone, its form roiling like a living inferno.

  What remained bore no resemblance to the man it had once been. The flames coiled into a shifting, humanoid shape, loose and unstable, yet towering as high as a two-story building. Its heat ignited the night, casting flickering shadows and painting the darkness in hues of burning red and gold.

  Emily knew it was him—she had seen the transformation with her own eyes—but had she not, there would have been nothing to tether this thing to the Silvaren he once was. All trace of his former self was gone, consumed by the inferno.

  Emily heard a shout from their left and glanced over to see a pissed-looking Kael.

  “What the hell is this?! You know what never mind, fall back to me!” he shouted.

  Emily glanced over as Kael was sending his men away. She could see there was a much larger open space nearby, which would be far easier to fight this thing on an even playing field.

  Emily took off in his direction scrambling over rumble as the sound of this monster pulling itself from the tower echoed out behind her.

  Alex was hot on her heels and then he wasn’t.

  Ashe had once told Emily the name of these creatures but as of this moment, the name escaped her. The only word that came to mind when she looked at this force of nature was something from her old world.

  An elemental.

  The searing heat came crashing down on Alex, and were it not for his quick reaction, he would have been reduced to ash.

  The elemental’s form had no real physical constraint, so when the arm suddenly extended toward them like a whip, Alex lashed out with his sword.

  It glowed with runes that Emily had not even seen him gathering, and in a precise cut, severed the thing's arm.

  Though he managed this, there was still enough force behind the strike to send him hurtling through a nearby wall

  “Fuck!” Emily cursed as she pivoted on her heel and cast a ‘lift’ spell.

  A large chunk of rubble shot up from a collapsed shop and crashed into the elemental side causing it to stumble.

  Surprisingly, her bridge groaned from the abuse and she realized she used more source than she expected to open the tower. The stimulant was still very much in her system but she could feel it was rapidly losing effectiveness.

  “Alex! Get your ass up!” she yelled as she threw another chunk at the monster.

  The fractured hole in the wall groaned ominously as Alex hauled himself out, clutching his shoulder with a grimace.

  “You know you could say it a little nicer.” he moaned through clenched teeth.

  “Fuck off, let's go!” she snapped.

  Alex dropped down from the stone and limped toward her. He was just within reach when Emily's eyes darted upward, her stomach sinking.

  The elemental was furious. Its molten form seethed, flames licking the air in chaotic spirals, and its fiery gaze locked onto her. Somehow, she knew it recognized her. The creature let out an otherworldly wail, a sound of pure rage that reverberated through the area.

  The flames coiled fiercely around its base, surging upward in a fiery crescendo before erupting in a scorching wave that swept through their surroundings.

  Emily’s heart thundered as she realized there was nowhere to run. Her mind raced. Gritting her teeth, she thrust both hands outward and cast, pouring all her remaining source into the spells.

  With a deafening crack, two massive chunks of wall tore free from nearby structures, colliding midair with a bone-rattling crash.

  The impact sent a cascade of jagged pebbles pelting her, but the makeshift barrier held, if only barely.

  Grabbing hold of Alex she wrapped them up in a cacoon of blood as the wave of stifling heat arrived turning the stone to molten slag and baking her shield.

  Blood points: 343