Chapter 10: ⚡Chapter 10, The Thorned awakening.

Scene — lunareth near the green lake

Vein-like shadows slithered across the ground, wrapping around all three of them — Dunira, Kaelric, and Sansa. The grip tightened like cold vines binding their limbs, making it hard to breathe, harder to move.

Panic hit.

They fought back, thrashing, struggling, trying to break free — but the shadows were fast, precise, and unnatural.

Then—

Two shadow men appeared in front of them.

Not walking.

Gliding.

Like wraiths.

It was as if the shadows had carried them through the air — silent and swift — without a single footstep.

And two more emerged behind.

They were surrounded.

The veins kept tightening, crawling up their arms and legs like living ropes.

Suddenly—

A crack of thunder.

A bolt from the sky.

Sansa raised her hand and summoned lightning from above — it struck directly onto the two shadow men in front. The shadows around them recoiled with a hiss, momentarily weakening.

The veins unwrapped.

Sansa stood tall, eyes fierce.

"You don’t know us," she said.

"Do you?"

Kaelric whistled low. “Wow. We really underestimated you.”

He and Dunira stepped forward, bracing together as the shadows began swirling again.

The fight began.

The shadow men moved like liquid smoke — their claws razor-sharp and unnaturally long. Sansa fought with sky-fire, crackling blasts lighting the dark woods. Kaelric controlled flames, hurling blazing arcs to keep them at bay. Dunira pushed back with water whips, forming barriers and strikes,

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

One shadow man lunged—Kaelric blocked with a wall of flame, but the creature slithered through the fire like it meant nothing.

Another went for Dunira — she blasted it back with a sphere of spinning water.The shadow man pushed through the flow of water, unfazed, step by step, until he stood right before Dunira. His presence was cold — wrong — like a wound in the air itself.

He raised one hand slowly, bringing it inches from her face. From his palm, dark tendrils of shadow began to slither out, reaching toward her skin. Dunira felt a sudden tingle ripple down her spine — a pull, like something was trying to dig inside her.

But then... nothing.

The shadows that had started forming suddenly flickered, then died in mid-air. His hand remained outstretched, motionless, but whatever he had tried — had failed.

He stared at his palm, his faceless expression unreadable, but his body language stiffened — confused. Like he couldn’t understand why it didn’t work.

And in that heartbeat of hesitation, Dunira didn’t wait. She summoned the water around her — and released it like a roaring tsunami. It crashed into the shadow man, flinging him backward into the mist, out of sight.

Sansa rose into the air, unleashing another bolt

For a moment, it seemed like they were winning.

But then—

The tide turned.

The shadow men grew faster. Stronger.

Sansa was hurled aside with a flick of black force — she slammed into a tree and hit the ground hard.

Two more tackled Kaelric.

A shadowy vine lashed up his throat—

lifting him clean off the ground.

He gasped, choking, his boots scraping the air.

Dunira screamed. “KAELRIC!”

She turned — breath heavy, eyes wide — and something inside her snapped open.

The wind paused.

The earth pulsed.

Her powers shifted.

From the trees around them — dozens of thick, thorny branches snapped to life, twisting like serpents.

With a cry, she hurled them —

Straight into the shadow holding Kaelric.

CRACK.

The branches didn’t just strike — they pierced.

They drove through the shadow man’s chest, impaling him into the tree. The creature shrieked, thrashing as black mist leaked from its wounds.

The other three froze.

They’d seen her wield water.

But this —

This was Earth.

In Auralis, no one can use two elements.

They looked at each other — not confused, but afraid.

As if they knew something about her.

And it terrified them.

Dunira’s hands trembled, her heart racing — but her eyes were calm.

The shadow men turned to mist.

Thick fog slithered away into the forest — heading toward the Green Lake.

Kaelric dropped to the ground, coughing as the vines released.

He stared at her, eyes wide.

“You… what did you just do?”

She didn’t answer.

Her gaze followed the mist, silent.

Sansa, still on the ground, tried to stand.

She and Kaelric both looked at Dunira.

“You inherited two elements?” Sansa whispered.

“Water and Earth?”

“How…?” Kaelric said softly.

Dunira heard them — but everything was ringing.

Her vision blurred.

Her knees buckled.

And she collapsed.

“Dunira—!” Kaelric caught her in time.

“She’s freezing,” he said, touching her cheek.

“Sansa, go home,” Kaelric said quickly.

“Tell Ms. Navelyn that Dunira’s staying with you tonight.”

“What? Where are you taking her?” Sansa asked, worried.

“My house. My father’s out. Her parents can’t see her like this — they’ll panic. I’ll take care of her. If things get worse, I’ll take her to the healing sanctuary myself. Just… keep her absence covered.”

Sansa hesitated — then nodded.

“Tell me the moment she wakes up.”

Kaelric nodded, lifting Dunira gently in his arms.

They walked toward the large, glowing tree they had seen earlier — ancient, deep-rooted, and shimmering faintly under the moonlight.

“We can’t walk all the way to our homes… We saw this earlier,” Kaelric said.

“I think it’s a portal.”

“You haven't used it,” Sansa replied.

Kaelric looked at the light pulsing in the bark.

“Then it’s time to find out.”

Both stepped inside, focused on where they wanted to go.

Sansa emerged from a glowing arch of crystal prisms, refracting golden daylight across wide, open fields.

Solyndor shimmered under a high, bright sky —

tall towers of crystal, floating light orbs, radiant walkways paved with stardust.

The air was clean, warm, and full of glowing petals that drifted gently like snow.

She looked back at the prism gate — blinking.

“Wait… does this mean the tree was connected to—”

“To every portal in Auralis,” said Kaelric.

He emerged from between two ember-cracked stone pillars, rising from black volcanic rock.

Flames flickered along the edges like tongues of living fire.

Kaelric stepped through the blaze-kissed portal — and by the time the sun dipped beyond Igniseth’s cliffs,

he had reached home… with Dunira in his arms.”

Will be continued 🩸