They walked until midday.
The city fell away behind them, replaced by fields, then scrubland, then the first rocky slopes of the mountain. Kaela led, moving with the easy confidence of someone who'd spent her whole life training her body. Lyra followed, stumbling occasionally, her Seer's robes catching on thorns and rocks.
"You could slow down," Lyra said to Kaela's back.
"I could." Kaela didn't slow.
"I haven't eaten properly in weeks. I've been living in a hole. My legs are about half as long as yours."
"You'll manage."
Lyra stopped. "You know, for someone who's supposed to be the heroic type, you're really bad at the whole compassion thing."
Kaela stopped too. Turned. Her face was hard to read—not angry, not amused, just... there.
"I'm not the heroic type. I'm a trainee who got lucky with a magic sword. And right now, I'm trying to get us to that dragon before more shadow things find us and eat our faces. So yeah, I'm not stopping every five minutes to make sure you're comfortable."
Lyra opened her mouth to snap back, then closed it. Because Kaela was right. They didn't have time for comfort.
"Fine," she said. "But if I collapse, you're carrying me."
"Deal."
They kept walking.
---
The shadows found them again at sunset.
Kaela felt them first—a chill that had nothing to do with temperature, a prickle at the back of her neck. The blade went from warm to hot in an instant, blazing with light before she'd even drawn it.
"Lyra."
"I feel them." Lyra's voice was tight. She'd gone pale, her eyes scanning the darkness between rocks. "There. And there. And—" She stopped. "There's a lot of them."
They came from all directions this time, flowing out of shadows like water from a broken dam. Dozens of them. More than the shed. More than they could fight.
Kaela moved without thinking, putting herself between Lyra and the nearest creatures. The blade sang as it cut, each strike dissolving shadow into nothing. But for every one she killed, two more took its place.
"Kaela!" Lyra's voice was desperate. "There's too many!"
"I know!"
A creature lunged past Kaela's guard. She spun, too slow, already knowing she wouldn't reach it in time—
Light exploded.
Not from Kaela's blade this time. From Lyra. The same light as in the shed, brighter now, more controlled. It blasted outward in a wave, and every creature within twenty feet dissolved screaming.
Lyra stood with her hands outstretched, eyes blazing silver, her whole body trembling with the effort.
"Do that again!" Kaela shouted.
"I don't know how! I don't know what I'm doing!"
"Figure it out!"
More creatures surged forward. Kaela cut down three, four, five. Lyra's light flared again, weaker this time, pushing them back but not destroying them.
They were losing.
Kaela felt it in her arms, heavy with exhaustion. Felt it in her blade, which had dimmed despite her will. Felt it in the press of shadows, closer and closer, hungry and patient.
Then Lyra was beside her.
Not behind her. Beside her. Standing shoulder to shoulder, trembling but upright, her hand reaching out to touch Kaela's arm.
"I saw something," Lyra whispered. "Just now. In the vision. Us, together. The light and the blade—" She grabbed Kaela's wrist, the one holding the sword. "Trust me?"
"No."
"Too bad."
Lyra closed her eyes. And Kaela felt it—something flowing from Lyra into her, through her, into the blade. Light, silver and pure, merging with the star-metal's glow. The blade blazed brighter than ever, brighter than the sun, brighter than anything.
Kaela raised it.
The light exploded outward—not in a wave, but in all directions at once, filling the whole valley with silver fire. Every creature it touched dissolved instantly, silently, leaving nothing behind.
Then it was over.
Kaela stood in the sudden darkness, gasping, the blade dimming in her hand. Lyra swayed beside her, still gripping her wrist, eyes still silver but fading.
"Did it work?" Lyra whispered.
"Yeah." Kaela's voice came out rough. "Yeah, it worked. You can let go now."
Lyra's hand dropped. She staggered, and Kaela caught her, lowering her to the ground.
"That was—" Lyra's eyes were normal now, just silver-gray and exhausted. "That was new."
"You think?" Kaela sat beside her, not letting go. "What did you do?"
"I don't know. I saw it—us, together, the light flowing through you into the blade. It was like the vision showed me what to do, and I just... did it." She leaned her head against Kaela's shoulder. "I'm really tired."
"Rest. I'll keep watch."
"Mmm." Lyra's eyes were already closing. "You're not as annoying as I thought."
"You're not either."
Lyra smiled faintly and was asleep in seconds.
Kaela sat in the darkness, one arm around the Seer who'd just saved her life, and stared at the place where the shadows had been. They were gone. All of them. For now.
But she could feel more out there, waiting. Always waiting.
She held her blade tighter and kept watch until dawn.
---
They reached the dragon's mountain the next evening.
It loomed above them, dark and ancient, its peak lost in clouds. Somewhere up there, the dragon waited. Watched. Knew things they needed to know.
Lyra had recovered some strength after sleeping, but she was still pale, still shaky. The light she'd called had cost her—more than she wanted to admit.
"You should wait here," Kaela said as they stared up at the slope. "Rest more. I'll go up alone."
"No."
"Lyra—"
"No." Lyra's voice was firm despite her exhaustion. "We do this together. The vision showed us together. I'm not letting you go up there alone."
Kaela wanted to argue. Wanted to point out that Lyra could barely stand, that the climb would be brutal, that if something attacked again she might not have the strength to fight. But she looked at Lyra's face—stubborn, determined, absolutely refusing to back down—and knew it wouldn't matter.
"Fine. But if you collapse, I'm carrying you."
"Deal."
They started climbing.
---
The dragon was waiting at the summit.
It was bigger than Kaela remembered. Bigger than anything had the right to be. Its scales were copper and gold, catching the last light of the setting sun, and its eyes were ancient pools of molten fire.
It watched them approach without moving, without speaking. Just watched.
Kaela stopped twenty feet away, Lyra beside her. The blade was warm at her hip, but not alarmed—whatever the dragon was, it wasn't a threat. Not yet.
"You came," the dragon said. Its voice was inside their heads, like before. "Both of you."
"We didn't have much choice," Kaela said. "The shadows—"
"I know. I felt them." The dragon's eyes moved to Lyra. "You carry the Sight. Strong in you, stronger than you know."
Lyra swallowed. "I don't know how to control it. It just... happens."
"It will happen more as the boundaries thin. As the Core wakes." The dragon lowered its massive head, bringing its eyes level with theirs. "You are the two from the prophecy. Metal and Sight. Together you have already done what neither could alone."
"The light," Kaela said. "When Lyra touched me, the blade—"
"Became more than itself. Yes." The dragon almost smiled—or something like it. "That is the power of your union. Separate, you are strong. Together, you are something new. Something the Veiled One fears."
"The Veiled One." Lyra's voice was barely a whisper. "The one who caused the Shattering."
"Yes. He waits in the Shadow Realm, gathering power, preparing for the moment when the boundaries fall completely." The dragon's eyes darkened. "He will not wait much longer. The tremors, the rifts, the shadows—these are signs. He is testing the barriers, finding the weak points. Soon he will move."
"How do we stop him?" Kaela asked.
The dragon was quiet for a long moment. When it spoke again, its voice was heavy with age and sorrow.
"There is a place. The heart of the Core, buried deep in the Shadow Realm. It is the source of all magic, the anchor of all realms. If you can reach it, if you can awaken it fully—" The dragon paused. "The Veiled One draws his power from the Core's dormancy. If it wakes, he weakens. If it wakes fully, he may be destroyed."
"And if we fail?"
"Then the realms fall. One by one, they will be consumed by shadow. And Aetherion will be lost forever."
Silence.
Kaela looked at Lyra. Lyra looked at her. Two girls from different worlds, standing on a mountain, being told the fate of everything rested on their shoulders.
"Well," Lyra said finally. "No pressure."
Kaela almost laughed. Almost.
"How do we get to the Shadow Realm?" she asked.
The dragon raised its head, looking toward the horizon. "There is a passage. Beneath the mountains, in the place where the realms meet. I will take you as far as I can. The rest you must walk alone."
"When?"
"Now. There is no more time for waiting."
Kaela nodded slowly. She looked at Lyra—exhausted, terrified, determined. "You ready for this?"
"No."
"Good. Me neither." She held out her hand. "Together?"
Lyra looked at the hand, at Kaela's face, at the dragon waiting behind them. Then she took it.
"Together."
They climbed onto the dragon's back, and the world fell away beneath them.
---
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