Book One – Chapter 5

In his final steps, Yves began to weave a bridge with glass magic, a transparent pathway suspended in the stormy abyss between the lighthouse ruins that provided the illusion of safety, and the desolate mainland that promised death. In seconds, shards wove into a lattice extending high above the raging sea, though wary not to transgress into the taboo realm of the dragons. Simultaneously, protective walls materialised, shielding the bridge against the battering winds and —

The onslaught began. Serrated fins of colossal creatures sliced through the water, as a twisted menagerie of grotesque sea beasts burst from the churning waves. A serpentine beast, its form distorted by arcane turbulence, surged upward and lunged toward the bridge. Ebony obsidian scales glinted with a sickly luminescence, and cruel, blade-like spines adorned its back.

Yves conjured shards, layers of protective walls blocking and breaking the momentum of the beast’s assault. As the serpent rammed into the barriers, shattering them with one ferocious attack, he retaliated with a condensed energy disc that expanded its diameter in flight, cutting through the serpent and splitting it from head to tail. The bridge quaked as the massive body crashed into the raging sea.

With the second serpent came the galebiters, ferocious sea creatures with grotesque avian features. Their elongated fins doubled as wings for gliding long distances, and their hard beaks tore through stone and shards. Hundreds descended on the first serpent’s remains, and an equal number targeted the intruder that was Yves and his magic.

He decapitated the second serpent while shooting down galebiters with condensed shard projectiles. Their sheer number and agility demanded rapid successions of strikes; the air hummed with tension. Yves found an odd satisfaction in the slaughter, a momentary diversion from the ice-cold water creeping under his skin and all impending consequences. As Yves continued his rampage, he and Midnight traversed the transparent bridge, the floating travel chest in tow. Focusing on the killing, he ignored the realisation that he fed the witch moon, pushing aside hesitation to advance.