The ground was shaking.
Not from an earthquake...but from the march of the dead.
Lyr'Thal's army advanced like a silent tide.They didn't scream.They didn't roar.They simply walked…with purpose.
As if their existence had but one goal:annihilation.
Matías raised a luminous barrier just in time.
The first three skeletal warriors slammed into it with brutal force.Their swords weren't ordinary.They were black—forged from solid shadow—and corrupted whatever they touched.
Every strike cracked the light.Every impact trembled the earth.
I leapt over the barrier, Excalibur ready.I couldn't let Matías hold them off alone.
I cut down the first with a sweeping strike.The blade lit up, and the body turned to dust.
But two more were already on top of me.
—They're tougher than regular zombies! —I shouted.
—They're not zombies! —Matías yelled—. They're bound souls! Fallen warriors, enslaved!
Then it hit me.
Lyr'Thal wasn't reanimating corpses.He was binding them.
Warriors torn from eternal rest, shackled and forced to fight once more.
We couldn't destroy them easily.Not without breaking the soul-link.
Matías stumbled back, panting.His hands trembled, his light beginning to dim.
I kept spinning, cutting, blocking.Every skeleton that fell was replaced by two more.
—This doesn't end! —I roared, slamming my sword into the ground, releasing a wave of spiritual energy.
The nearest enemies flew backward.But the rest kept coming.
And behind them, floating calmly...Lyr'Thal.
Still.Watching.
He didn't lift a hand.Didn't raise his staff.
He just observed.
As if this battle was nothing more than an experiment.
—We're going to break! —Matías shouted, dropping to one knee.
—No! Not yet!
I ran to him, grabbing his arm—And in that instant, a blade grazed my back.
One of the shadows had slipped through.
I hit the ground.Blood stained the dirt.
Matías screamed my name.
But I barely heard it.The ringing in my ears was deafening.
The skeletons closed in.Excalibur was meters away.My brother… was alone.
And then…
I saw a light.
Distant, but steady.From the walls.
An arrow.
Then another.
And another.
—Support! —a familiar voice roared.
Enchanted arrows rained down from the towers.
Each impact burst with radiant light.The skeletons recoiled, momentarily stunned.
One landed in front of me, just as a sword was about to fall.The explosion blasted the attacker away.
I looked up.
And there, atop the wall,my mother, Milena, bow still drawn.
Her eyes sharp.Her expression unshaken.
Beside her, Rodrigo raised his hand, giving commands.My father.The Commander.
They had arrived.
We were no longer alone.
Matías helped me to my feet.
—Ready for round two?
—Always —I said, grabbing my sword.
The army of the dead was still standing.And Lyr'Thal… still hadn't moved.
But now, we weren't just two.
We were a line.
And we had no intention of letting it break.