Drakemire loomed before us, a city carved from ambition and greed. Its towers rose like jagged claws into a sky dimmed by the erratic glow of a castle. Beneath its shadow, the streets were choked with desperation.

  People shuffled through narrow alleys, their faces hollow and gaunt. Enforcers in crimson and gold patrolled in groups, their weapons crackling with unstable energy drawn from the Core itself. Merchants haggled with trembling voices, their wares sparse and guarded.

  The weight of the Threads here was palpable, a suffocating tension that pressed against my chest. I felt the shard hum faintly, responding to the chaotic energy surrounding us.

  “This place is on the edge of collapse,” I muttered.

  Kael’s jaw was tight, his fiery blade resting on his shoulder. “Malrik’s abuse of the Core has turned this city into a nightmare. He’s twisting the Threads to rewrite reality in his favor—at the cost of everyone else.”

  “Sounds familiar,” Aeryn said, her shadows flickering.

  Kael didn’t rise to the jab. “He’s not just exploiting the Threads. He’s feeding off them. Every fracture, every distortion, makes him stronger—and the Core weaker.”

  “And if the Core fails?” Lyra asked, her voice unusually serious.

  “The Rift will expand,” Kael said. “And it won’t stop with Drakemire.”

  “Then we’d better stop him,” I said, materializing and gripping the shard tightly.

  Getting to the Core was easier said than done. The district was a fortress, with patrols of enforcers stationed at every entry point. Their weapons buzzed with unstable energy, their eyes glowing faintly from their connection to the Threads.

  “This isn’t going to be subtle,” Kael said, his golden eyes scanning the defenses.

  “Subtlety’s overrated,” Lyra said, flipping a dagger in her hand. “Besides, I’ve got a plan.”

  She disappeared into the shadows before anyone could object. Moments later, an explosion rocked the far end of the district, sending enforcers scrambling.

  “Guess that’s our cue,” Aeryn said dryly, her shadows unfurling around her.

  Kael nodded, his blade igniting with a roar. “Let’s move.”

  The enforcers were well-trained, but they weren’t prepared for us. Kael charged through the front lines, his fiery blade cutting through their ranks like a wildfire. Aeryn’s shadows coiled and struck with lethal precision, pulling weapons from their hands and binding them in place.

  I stayed back, using the shard to shape glowing weapons that matched the chaos around me—a shield to deflect a blast of energy, a whip to disarm an enforcer, a net to ensnare a group trying to flank Kael.

  Lyra reappeared at my side, grinning as she wiped blood from one of her daggers. “Not bad, Vale. Almost like you know what you’re doing.”

  “Almost,” I said, smirking as I sent a glowing spear through a charging enforcer’s weapon, shattering it.

  As we pushed closer to the Core, the resistance grew fiercer. The enforcers fought with desperation, their connection to the Threads making their attacks erratic but devastating.

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  “This isn’t sustainable,” Aeryn said, her voice strained as her shadows blocked another wave of projectiles.

  “We’re almost there,” Kael said, carving through the last line of enforcers with a powerful sweep of his blade.

  Ahead of us, the entrance to the Core Chamber loomed, guarded by a massive gate etched with glowing runes.

  The Core Chamber was a vision of power run rampant. The crystalline Core pulsed erratically, its light casting fractured shadows across the vast hall. Machinery hummed and sparked as it strained to maintain control over the unstable Threads.

  At the center of it all stood Lord Malrik, his figure tall and imposing. His robes shimmered with golden runes, and the Threads themselves twisted around him like living things.

  Flanking him were more enforcers, their weapons glowing dangerously. Above, massive constructs hung from the ceiling—mechanical guardians powered directly by the Core.

  “Well, well,” Malrik said, his voice smooth and venomous. “If it isn’t the heroes of the hour. Come to lecture me on morality?”

  “We’re here to stop you,” Kael said, his blade raised. “Your reign ends now, Malrik.”

  Malrik laughed, the sound cold and sharp. “Stop me? Do you even understand what I’ve achieved? This city thrives because of my will. The Core bends to me, and the Threads obey.”

  “Thrives?” I said, stepping forward. “The people here are starving. Dying. You’re killing them to feed your delusions of grandeur.”

  Malrik’s eyes narrowed. “Spare me your sanctimony, thief. You have no idea what the Threads demand.”

  “Then maybe you should’ve let someone smarter handle it,” I said, the shard glowing in my hand.

  Malrik didn’t waste time with more words. He raised his hands, and the Threads surged around him, forming a barrier of crackling energy.

  “Split up!” Kael shouted. “Take out the enforcers and the machines. I’ll handle Malrik!”

  Kael charged, his fiery blade clashing against Malrik’s barrier with a deafening roar. Sparks flew as the hero pushed forward, his strength unmatched but his attacks struggling to pierce the Threads’ defenses.

  Aeryn and Lyra moved in tandem, dismantling the enforcers with brutal efficiency. Lyra darted through the chaos, her daggers flashing as she struck with precision, while Aeryn’s shadows overwhelmed groups at a time, ripping weapons from their hands and binding them in place.

  I focused on the constructs above, using the shard to form a glowing bow. Arrows of light streaked toward the machines, shattering their energy cores and sending them crashing to the ground.

  “Keep going!” Kael shouted, his blade carving through Malrik’s barrier inch by inch.

  As the last of the enforcers fell, Malrik’s barrier cracked, his control over the Threads faltering. But the Core pulsed dangerously, its instability threatening to tear the chamber apart.

  Malrik turned to me, his glowing eyes filled with fury. “You don’t understand what you’re meddling with, thief. The Threads demand sacrifice!”

  “Then you’re doing it wrong,” I said, stepping forward. The shard’s light merged with the Core’s, the Threads twisting and writhing as they responded to my touch.

  The whispers returned, sharp and insistent:

  “Sever the Threads.”

  “Bind them to the Core.”

  “Choose, Sion Vale.”

  Hearing those words now only made me chuckle.

  “Don’t listen to it!” Kael shouted, his blade striking Malrik and sending him sprawling. “The Threads don’t need to be severed or bound—they need to be mended!”

  Aeryn’s voice cut through the chaos. “This is your choice, Sion. Trust yourself.”

  I closed my eyes, letting the shard’s energy flow through me.

  “I’m not severing. I’m not binding,” I said, my voice steady. “I’m rewriting.”

  The shard flared, its light enveloping the Core. I reached into the Threads, unraveling their chaos and weaving them into something new.

  Malrik screamed as his connection to the Core was severed, the power he’d stolen dissipating into the air along with his physical form. The Threads stabilized, their energy flowing smoothly for the first time.

  Kael stepped back, his golden eyes wide with grudging respect. “You… you really can repair them.”

  “Of course I can,” I said, grinning as the shard dissolved back into my hand. “It’s like stitching a tear in your shirt, if your shirt was the fabric of reality that is.”

  As the Core pulsed softly, the city outside began to change. The oppressive energy dissipated, and the glow of the runes dimmed to something calmer, steadier.

  Kael turned to me, his expression serious. “You’ve proven yourself, Sion. But this isn’t the end. The Threads are still fragile, and the Rift isn’t gone.”

  “I never thought it was,” I said, smirking. “Guess that means we’ve got more work to do.”

  Aeryn stepped beside me, her shadows flickering. “You’re reckless and insufferable, but… you’re actually pulling it off.”

  Lyra grinned, flipping a dagger. “What she said. Now, where to next?”

  I looked at the horizon, the shard humming faintly in my pocket. “Wherever the Threads take us.”

  As we left Drakemire, its castle standing tall behind us, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was only the beginning.