The Shrouded moved like shadows themselves, silent but deadly. Their cloaks flickered in and out of sight, blending with the cavern's darkness as if they were stitched from the night.
Elias stepped forward, voice calm but steel-sharp. "Kaien, Iria, hold the entrance. Solryn, with me."
Kaien's shadow unfurled instantly, wrapping around him like armor. Iria's flames sparked higher, the heat pushing back the chill.
The first of the Shrouded lunged.
Solryn's fingers crackled with frost and lightning as he met their assault. Every strike he threw was precise, each elemental burst tearing through the Veil's fanatics like wildfire on dry grass.
Elias reached the pedestal, hand outstretched toward the Keywrought. A pulse of energy surged from the artifact — a ripple that momentarily pushed the Veil's minions back.
"Keep them off me!" Elias called, eyes burning with fierce resolve.
Kaien and Iria's combined shadows and flames wove a deadly dance of defense, but the Shrouded were relentless. For every one they felled, two more emerged.
One broke through, lunging at Elias with a blade humming with corrupt energy.
Elias didn't flinch. His hand closed over the Keywrought, and light exploded outward — a forcewave that sent the attacker crashing into the cavern wall.
The Keywrought hummed like a living thing, reacting to its bearer's will.
But Elias's strength was finite.
Kaien noticed his friend's breathing quicken, his movements slowing.
"Elias!" Kaien shouted, stepping to shield him.
The cavern shook violently, cracks spiderwebbing through the obsidian pedestal.
"The Veil's power is responding!" Elias gasped. "If I don't hold it—"
Solryn's ice surged forward, creating a barrier of crystalline spikes.
"We won't let that happen," Solryn vowed.
But the cavern's rumble intensified, dust and stone falling like rain.
The Keywrought pulsed brighter, then shattered — sending a shockwave that threw everyone to the ground.
When the dust settled, Elias lay motionless, his hand scorched but gripping the Keywrought's fragments.
Kaien crawled to his side. "Elias! Speak to me!"
Elias's eyes fluttered open, a faint smile on his lips. "This is only the beginning."