Page 14 of Shadows of the Lost Relic (Vanguard of the Ancients #1)
Chapter 14
Lyra
T he forge had come alive with an intensity I hadn’t expected. The flames roared out of control, threatening to consume everything. Caspian stood at the heart of it, his face twisted with concentration and fear as he tried to control the hammer he had forged. I could see it in his eyes. The power of the forge was slipping away, descending into chaos.
“Caspian!” My voice was raw with panic as I shouted over the deafening roar of the forge. I reached out to him, my hand trembling as I tried to bridge the distance between us. The heat was unbearable, searing my skin even through the protective clothing he had insisted I wear. But I couldn’t leave him to face this alone.
He turned his face to me, eyes wide and desperate. “I can’t stop it, Lyra! It’s too much!”
The hammer in his hands glowed with an otherworldly light, the metal pulsing in time with my heartbeat. It was beautiful and terrifying, a creation of pure power born from the heart of the forge. Even without the power of Hephaestus, I knew it was unstable, the energy within it growing more volatile with every passing second.
The ground beneath us trembled, and dread surged through me as the walls of the cavern cracked, pieces of stone falling from the ceiling as the forge’s power pushed everything to its limits. We didn’t have much time before the entire place came down around us.
“We have to get out of here! We’re going to be buried alive if we don’t move!” I shouted, my heart pounding in my chest. I tried to push through the panic, but the pain of being this close to the hearth was making it difficult to concentrate.
Caspian was rooted in place, his focus still on the hammer, his hands gripping it so tightly his knuckles had turned white. The flames licked at his skin, and I could see the pain in his eyes, the struggle to maintain control over forces that were beyond his power.
Without thinking, I lunged forward, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the exit. “Come on! We have to go!”
He hesitated, his gaze locked on the hammer, as if he couldn’t bear to leave it behind. But then he looked at me, and I saw the realization dawn in his eyes; the forge was lost, and if we stayed here any longer, we would be too.
With a final, desperate glance at the forge, Caspian let me pull him away, and we ran together toward the entrance of the cavern. The heat was suffocating; the flames roared behind us as the forge threatened to explode, but we pushed forward, our only thought to escape with our lives.
The cavern walls shook violently as we ran, and I stumbled, barely catching myself before I fell. Caspian was beside me in an instant, his arm around my waist as he helped me to my feet. The hammer was still in his hand, its light flickering.
“We need to get out of here. The whole place is going to come down.” His voice was hoarse with exhaustion and pain.
I nodded; my throat was too dry to speak. Never mind that I had said those same words to him. We pushed forward, our pace frantic as we raced through the narrow passageway that led to the surface. The cracks and booms of the forge’s collapse echoed behind us in a deafening roar that sent waves of dust and debris crashing at our feet. The heat was still pouring out of it relentlessly, and I could feel the air growing thinner with every step, the fire consuming everything in its path.
We were almost there, the faint light of the canyon ahead of us, when I felt it—a presence, dark and malevolent, waiting for us just beyond the entrance. My heart sank as I realized what it meant.
We weren’t alone.
“Caspian,” I gasped before we reached the exit. “The Shadowborn. They’re here.”
His eyes widened in shock and fear, but there was no time to prepare. No time to strategize. They were upon us the moment we emerged from the tunnel.
The first strike came from the shadows, a blade flashing through the air toward Caspian. He reacted on instinct, raising the hammer he had forged to block the attack. The clash of metal rang out, sparks flying as the two weapons collided. The force of the blow sent Caspian staggering back, almost taking me with him. I barely had time to draw my daggers before another figure emerged from the darkness.
The Shadowborn were unlike anything I had ever faced, and here, in the stark light of day, it was more of a nightmare than the temple had been. When they attacked at the temple, I had been afraid, but when Caspian had gone down, everything had faded away, and there was only anger and blood. I didn’t have that luxury here. Even hurt, I couldn’t pull on the same magic; it didn’t want to come to me.
The Shadowborn circled behind us, cutting us off from trying to retreat back into the forge. Their movements were fluid and unnatural, as if they were part of the shadows themselves. Their eyes were completely black, and their weapons hummed with a dark energy that made my skin crawl. These weren’t just enemies. They were predators, and we were their prey.
I fought with everything I had, blocking strike after strike, but they were relentless, their attacks coming faster and harder with every passing second.
Beside me, Caspian’s movements were swift and precise as he fought off two Shadowborn at once. But I could see the strain in his eyes, the way his muscles trembled with exhaustion. He wasn’t a fighter. Not like the triplets were. We were outnumbered, outmatched, and the odds were quickly stacking against us.
A Shadowborn lunged at me from the side, his blade aimed for my throat. I twisted just in time, the tip of the weapon grazing my shoulder instead of taking off my head. The pain was sharp, but I gritted my teeth and struck back, my blade finding its mark in the Shadowborn’s side. He hissed in pain, but before I could finish him, another Shadowborn was on me, forcing me to retreat.
We were being overwhelmed, pushed toward the edge of the canyon. The ground beneath us was unstable, the result of the forge’s collapse, and I knew it was only a matter of time before we wouldn’t be able to back up any farther.
“Lyra!” Caspian’s voice was strained as he called out to me. “We need to break through. Now!”
I nodded, trying to gather the last of my strength as I fought off another attack.
Before I could move, the ground beneath my feet gave way, and I felt myself falling. The world tilted, and for a terrifying moment, I was weightless, plummeting toward the rocky ground below.
I hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind out of me. I hadn’t fallen far, about twenty feet, but it was far enough, especially when I’d been expecting to fall to my death. Pain radiated through my body, and I struggled to catch my breath, my vision swimming as I tried to get my bearings. The Shadowborn were above me, moving in for the kill, their eyes glowing with cruel satisfaction.
Caspian was there before they could strike, his hammer flashing through the air as he forced them back. He was breathing hard, his face pale with exertion, but he didn’t hesitate, his focus entirely on keeping the Shadowborn away from me.
“Lyra, get up!” he shouted, his voice desperate.
I tried to move, to push myself up, but the pain was overwhelming. My body refused to obey. My vision blurred, and the icy fingers of unconsciousness crept in at the edges of my mind. I knew I had to fight it, to stay awake, but it was a battle I was quickly losing.
Then, just as I thought I was done for, Caspian’s hand wrapped around my arm, and he pulled me to my feet. The world spun around me, but his grip was strong, grounding me in the chaos. I leaned on him heavily, barely able to stand as pain shot up and down my limbs, each movement like ground glass in my joints.
“We have to move!” he urged, his voice strained. “Now, before they regroup!”
I nodded weakly, trying to push past the pain as we staggered forward. The Shadowborn weren’t giving up. Their eyes locked on us as they prepared for another assault. We couldn’t stop, couldn’t slow down, not if we wanted to survive.
We moved as quickly as we could, our steps unsteady as we made our way along the narrow ledge that bordered the canyon. The ground crumbled beneath our feet, and I could feel the rocks shifting, ready to give way at any moment.
The Shadowborn followed close behind, their dark forms closing in on us from all sides. Caspian fought them off as best he could, his movements growing more desperate with each passing second. The hammer he had forged was powerful, but it wasn’t enough—not against that many enemies, not when we were so outnumbered.
I knew we wouldn’t make it out alive if things didn’t change. The pain in my side and my legs was getting worse, my vision darkening at the edges. Every step was a struggle, every breath a battle. My strength was quickly fading, slipping away from me like sand through my fingers.
“Lyra, hold on,” Caspian said, his voice strained as he tightened his grip on me. He was struggling to keep me upright, to keep us both moving, and I could see the exhaustion in his eyes, in the way his body trembled with the effort.
We were both at our limit, and the Shadowborn knew it.
They pressed in on us, their eyes glowing with anticipation, their weapons raised for the final strike. I could feel the heat of their breath on my skin, the dark energy radiating from them like a tangible force. My heart pounded in my chest, each beat a painful reminder that we were running out of time.
Then, just as all hope seemed lost, a surge of energy filled me with a familiar, fiery warmth, one that had been trying to consume me. It was the power of Hephaestus, the power that Caspian had inherited from his ancestors. The hammer in his hand glowed brighter, the metal pulsing with a renewed strength that matched the fire in his eyes.
With a shout, Caspian swung the hammer in a wide arc, the metal cutting through the air with a brilliant flash of light. The Shadowborn recoiled, their dark forms dissipating as the hammer’s power washed over them. It was a brief reprieve, but it was enough to give us a chance.
“Go!” Caspian shouted, pushing me forward and almost making me lose my precarious balance. “We need to get to the transport!”
I didn’t hesitate, stumbling forward, forcing my legs to move as we made a break for the transport. The canyon was collapsing around us, the ground shaking violently with each step, but I pushed through the pain and focused solely on reaching the safety of the transport.
The Shadowborn were still behind us, their dark forms closing in once more, but Caspian kept them at bay, with the hammer’s power holding them back just enough for us to reach the transport. I stumbled into the cockpit, my vision swimming as I fumbled with the controls, my fingers numb and shaking.
“Come on, come on,” I muttered, my heart racing as the transport’s systems came online. I could hear Caspian fighting off the last of the Shadowborn outside, his shouts echoing through the canyon as the hammer clashed with their dark blades.
Finally, the engines roared to life, and I slammed the controls forward, the transport lurching into the air as I struggled to keep it steady.
Caspian leaped inside just as the door closed behind him, his chest heaving as he collapsed into the seat beside me. “We made it,” he panted, his voice filled with a mixture of relief and exhaustion.
I could barely hear him; pain consumed me as I felt the last of my strength slipping away. My vision darkened, and I could feel myself losing consciousness, the world around me fading into a haze of pain and exhaustion.
The last thing I saw before everything went black was Caspian’s face, his eyes filled with worry and fear as he reached out to me, his voice calling my name.