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  The Revenant rode in formation behind Barang, their cloaks whipping like torn shadows in the cold mountain wind. The path toward Diospyrus twisted along narrow ridges, the sky bruised with storm-blue dusk. Hop, Terry, Jinn, Therson, Lyra, Lucille, Barry, and Lionel marched in silence, sensing the growing foulness in their leader’s mood.

  Then the trees shook.

  A figure emerged from the mist and dropped to one knee before Barang—armor worn, hair tangled with mud and sweat, breath ragged.

  Baldirion.

  “My lord,” he said, head bowed. “My subordinate spotted the haribon. It has landed in the ruined Druid Castle. The boy is with them.”

  Barang’s eyes sharpened, glinting like a predator spotting an opening.

  “Then we go there,” he ordered immediately. “Everyone—move.”

  They shifted as one, but Barang lifted his hand, stopping four of them.

  “Except Hop, Terry, Lucille, and Therson. You search the surrounding mountains. The rest with me.”

  “Yes, my lord!”

  Barang and the remaining Revenant stormed toward the Druid Castle.

  Deep beneath the ruined castle, Finn pushed open the dragon door—its stone scales shifting like waking flesh. Vines wove across the passageway, bristling as if tasting his presence. The moment his foot crossed the threshold, they recoiled, snapping back and parting like curtains welcoming their master.

  Lir, Maxi, and Katherine watched with uneasy awe.

  Then—

  A suffocating aura smashed down on them like a falling mountain.

  Finn staggered, his breath caught in his throat. Katherine’s legs nearly buckled. Maxi gasped, gripping the wall.

  From the shadows at the back of the massive hall, figures began to emerge one by one. Cloaks of deep red trimmed with black. Cold eyes. And at their center…

  Barang.

  “This is bad,” Mundi whispered inside Maxi’s mind—his voice trembling for the first time. “This is really bad. Even the Guardian is here. Maxi—we can’t win this fight. We can’t win.”

  Fear tightened Maxi’s chest.

  Barang stepped forward with a quietness that chilled the air. Maxi instinctively reached for the Karit—

  And Barang vanished.

  He appeared in front of Maxi in a blur, catching the boy’s arm mid-motion and cracking it with a single twist.

  Maxi screamed, dropping to one knee.

  Barang’s knee slammed into his abdomen, folding him. Then Barang pivoted and delivered a ruthless spinning kick to Maxi’s ribs. The boy flew several yards before smashing into a stone column, collapsing unconscious.

  The Karit clattered to the floor.

  Barang snatched it instantly.

  He grinned, raising the ancient weapon as if greeting a long-lost companion.

  “You’ve been away… old friend,” he murmured to the spirit inside.

  Lir’s eyes blazed. She clasped her hands, a thunderous sound erupting from her palms—air rippling outward, freezing the space around her for the briefest breath of time.

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  She was already in motion.

  Her kick smashed into Barang’s jaw, sending him flying back toward the Revenant. The frozen moment snapped back into motion, and the hall shuddered with the impact.

  Lir whispered sharp, ancient words. The ground trembled. Vines exploded upward, lashing toward Barang and his soldiers.

  The Revenant scattered, drawing weapons. Barang slashed with the Karit, cutting through several vines in sweeping arcs. He dodged more, leaping with impossible speed.

  Lir dashed in, aiming her knee toward his ribs. Barang blocked with his palm, twisted, caught her ankle mid-air, and slammed her into the stone floor. The ground cracked beneath her.

  Above her, Barry leapt onto a broken ledge, drawing back his bow. Lightning gathered along the arrow, crackling with lethal energy. He fired.

  Lir rolled—barely. The arrow skimmed her ear, splitting stone where it landed, the sound ringing like a thunderclap in her skull.

  More arrows flew. She ducked back, contorting her body through near-impossible angles. But Barang was already there.

  His hand closed around her throat.

  “You’re not your brother,” he said, almost amused.

  A centipede slithered out from beneath his cloak, crawling up his arm.

  Then—

  A shadow fell over him.

  A massive claw burst from behind Barang’s body, aiming straight for him.

  The haribon had arrived.

  It landed in front of Lir, its wings unfurling with a roar that shook the pillars. Barang retreated several steps, eyes narrowing.

  The haribon reared back and released a thunderous screech. A shockwave of wind blasted toward the Revenant. Lionel immediately raised a stone barrier, shielding his comrades as the haribon’s feathers burst into radiant golden blades.

  They fired as a volley, slicing through the barrier and tearing into flesh and armor. Sparks of golden light scattered across the hall.

  The Revenant fell back, retreating toward the bridge.

  The haribon rose into the air, wings beating fiercely. It circled above the bridge, choosing its prey.

  It dove.

  A blur—then Lyra was caught in its talons, slammed into the stone. The claws pierced her abdomen and shoulder. Blood spilled across the ground as she choked on a mouthful of it.

  Barry fired arrows nonstop—but the haribon deflected them with its wings, the feathers ringing like enchanted steel.

  The haribon shot back into the air.

  This time its eyes fixed on Lionel.

  It dived again—

  —but the Guardian moved.

  A towering figure of stone and ancient power stepped between Lionel and the descending beast. The Guardian’s arm rose. The haribon’s beak sliced an arrow into the Guardian’s chest, causing the creature to grunt in pain.

  The Guardian whispered sacred words, and the ceiling cracked.

  A massive conical stone spire dropped from above, slamming through the haribon’s wing and pinning it to the hall floor. It shrieked—thrashing helplessly.

  Far behind, Lir coughed blood. The bond between druid and beast pulsed through her ribs like a tearing wound.

  Barang was already moving.

  His kick smashed into Lir’s abdomen, sending her sliding across the floor toward Finn and Katherine.

  Finn caught her, trembling, terrified.

  Barang approached slowly, savoring each step.

  “Huh… Are you the boy who saved the princess?” he asked.

  “The druid boy.”

  He vanished.

  Smoke trailed where he had stood.

  Finn was lifted off his feet—Barang’s hand around his throat. He choked, gasping, until Barang released him and sent a brutal kick to his ribs.

  Finn slammed into the wall beside the dragon door.

  Katherine ran to him, clutching him. Finn felt broken. Helpless. Useless. His brother lay unconscious. Lir was bleeding. Katherine trembling beside him.

  Barang—unhurried, certain—walked toward them.

  He grabbed Katherine by the hair, leaning close to inhale her scent. His insects crawled eagerly from inside his cloak, gathering on his arm.

  One began to crawl toward her face—

  Finn grabbed Barang’s wrist.

  But not with Finn’s hand.

  His nails lengthened, turning black and sharp. His grip crushed through flesh. His eyes glinted, wild and ancient. His aura—no longer the soft stirrings of a student—burst into something fierce, primal, and terrifying.

  He wasn’t Finn.

  He was something else.

  His other hand clamped onto Barang’s arm, and Finn delivered a frontal kick to Barang’s chest so powerful it sent the man spiraling backward in midair.

  Before Barang could hit the ground, Finn was already there—catching his ankle and slamming him into a pillar. The stone cracked, shards raining down like broken stars.

  Barry fired an arrow. Finn snatched it mid-flight and hurled it back with impossible strength.

  It pierced Barry’s legs. He collapsed screaming.

  The Guardian reacted immediately, raising a monolithic pillar of stone from the floor. It launched like a spear toward Finn—

  But vines burst from Finn’s back, deflecting it with a whip-like crack.

  Finn dashed at the Guardian, hands clawed.

  The Guardian caught him mid-air, spinning and slamming him into the ground. Stone spikes erupted, pinning his limbs—one through his thigh, one through his arm, one through his palm.

  Finn screamed.

  Barang limped forward, wiping blood from his lips, eyes wide with awe.

  “Impressive.”

  His kick drove into Finn’s abdomen, sending him flying across the hall and into the dragon door’s frame.

  Barang grabbed him by the hair and dragged him inside.

  The vines parted like servants bowing, revealing a long tunnel leading into a colossal dome.

  At its center, across a narrow stone path, stood a circular platform. On the platform rested a single table.

  And atop it—

  The Goblet of Blood.

  Its crimson surface pulsed like a beating heart.

  Barang shoved Finn forward.

  “We’re finally here,” he whispered.