The Shattered Oath Part 4

The chamber erupted into chaos. Vaelin barely had time to react as the Vowbound warrior in obsidian armor lunged at him, the crackling energy in his gauntlet warping the air around it. Vaelin twisted aside, his sword flashing in a desperate parry. The impact sent a shockwave through his arm, the force unnatural—tainted by Veil magic.

Elira was already moving, her hands alive with pulsing light. She unleashed a bolt of Veil energy toward the enemy, but he deflected it with a swipe of his gauntlet, the energy dissipating in a cascade of sparks. His silver eyes locked onto her. “Sorceress,” he sneered. “You play with power you do not understand.”

Vaelin took advantage of the distraction, driving forward with a flurry of strikes. The warrior countered with brutal precision, forcing him back. Around them, the chamber was a battleground. The Oathsworn fought with ruthless efficiency, their movements honed by centuries of discipline. The Vowbound were just as deadly, their enchanted weapons cutting through stone and flesh alike.

Nyara moved through the fray like a shadow, cutting down an assassin before turning to Elira. “We need to break their link to the Veil,” she called. “They’re drawing from something beyond this chamber.”

Elira’s gaze darted to the altar. “The stone.”

She ran toward it, dodging an incoming blade, but one of the Vowbound warriors intercepted her, swinging a curved dagger aimed for her throat. Before it could land, a blast of Veil energy exploded from her core, sending the assassin tumbling backward.

Vaelin disengaged from his opponent just long enough to see Elira reaching the altar. His instincts screamed a warning. “Elira, wait—”

Too late. She placed both hands on the stone.

The reaction was immediate. The chamber trembled as tendrils of energy surged from the altar, wrapping around Elira like living chains. Her breath hitched, her body going rigid. The glow in her hands flickered, then intensified. Her eyes snapped open—filled with something ancient and unknowable.

Vaelin’s chest tightened. “Elira!”

She turned to him, but her voice was not her own. “The Veil is breaking.”

The air grew thick, heavy with unseen power. A force unlike anything Vaelin had felt before pulsed through the chamber, sending friend and foe alike staggering. The altar, once dormant, was now alive with energy, the markings on its surface shifting like a living script.

The Vowbound leader snarled. “You fool! You have awakened the Rupture.”

Vaelin didn’t hesitate. He surged toward Elira, grabbing her wrist, trying to pull her free, but her body was locked in place, her form flickering like a mirage caught between two worlds. Then, in a single violent pulse, the energy exploded outward.

Darkness swallowed everything.

When Vaelin’s vision returned, he was no longer in the chamber. He stood in a vast, endless void where fractured pieces of reality floated like broken glass. Elira hovered before him, suspended in nothingness, her body glowing with unearthly light.

A voice echoed through the void, neither male nor female, neither kind nor cruel. “The oath was broken. The cycle begins again.”

Elira’s face twisted in pain. “Vaelin…”

He tried to move toward her, but the void resisted him, an unseen force holding him back. “Elira, fight it!”

She reached for him, her fingers barely brushing his before a violent pull wrenched her away. The void collapsed inward, and with a deafening roar, reality returned.

Vaelin gasped as he found himself back in the chamber. The battle was over—both the Oathsworn and the Vowbound lay scattered, some unconscious, others too dazed to fight. The altar was shattered, the black stone reduced to jagged remnants.

Elira collapsed into his arms, her body trembling. He held her close, his heart hammering. “Are you—?”

She looked up at him, her eyes flickering between her own and something else. Something watching. “The Veil remembers.”

A chill ran through Vaelin. Whatever had just happened, it wasn’t over.

And the real battle was only beginning.

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All Parts of this Series

• The Shattered Oath Part 1
• The Shattered Oath Part 2
• The Shattered Oath Part 3
• The Shattered Oath Part 4
• The Shattered Oath Part 5