Page 84 of Sundered By Fate

"Defensive positions!" Valerian shouted.

The enhanced soldiers under Valerian's command surged forward to meet the demons head-on. Their unnatural strength and speed were immediately apparent, but the demons fought with a savage ferocity, tearing through the soldiers like paper.

Aric and Valerian exchanged a look, their argument from moments before forgotten in the face of this overwhelmingthreat. Aric's hands itched to call forth his magic, to release the power welling within him—but the inhibitor cuffs on his wrists held him fast, their cold metal biting into his skin.

He strained against them, a low growl rumbling in his throat. "Come on, damn you?—"

But the cuffs held firm, the dark sigils etched into their surface mocking him with their promise of suppression. Aric's magic was stirring within him, a caldera waiting to erupt, and he fought to reign it in, determined to bide his time.

Without thinking, Aric grabbed the sword from one of the fallen soldiers—a gleaming mithril blade that hummed with a familiar energy—and leapt into the fray. Even without his magic, his training kicked in, his movements fluid and precise as he went to work on the demons. The blade cut through their leathery hides with ease, and Aric let the rush of battle consume him, pushing all thoughts of Valerian's betrayal—and Malekith—away.

Valerian moved in tandem, crimson bolts of energy lancing from his gauntleted hands. He was a whirlwind of death, his spells tearing through the demons with ruthless efficiency.

"Behind you!" Valerian barked.

Aric ducked, and Valerian's blast seared over his head, striking a winged demon that had been swooping in for the kill. Aric grunted his thanks and rolled away, coming up in a crouch as more demons surged forward.

Despite the inhibitor cuffs, Aric found himself slipping into a dance with Valerian, their movements complementing each other as they fought back-to-back. Aric's sword sang through the air, while Valerian's spells crackled with lethal force.

But the demons kept coming. Aric was covered in the acidic stench of their blood, his muscles burning with exertion as he struggled to keep up. And with every strike he landed, more demons seemed to pour in through the rift.

Valerian glanced over his shoulder, his expression grim. "We can't keep this up. We need to close that damn rift."

Aric nodded, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. But as much as he wanted to stop the flow of demons, the cuffs a cruel reminder of his powerlessness.

A massive brute charged toward them, its horns gleaming in the low workshop light. Aric yelled a warning, but the demon barreled into Valerian, sending him sprawling into a rack of weapons and armor. The demon roared and lunged for Valerian, claws outstretched?—

Aric flung himself in its path, the sword feeling like an extension of his arm as he drove it into the demon's chest. The monster shrieked and toppled over, and Aric seized Valerian's hand, hauling him to his feet.

"Aric, I—" Valerian started, but the words were lost as more demons converged on them.

Aric pushed him toward the racks. "Climb up! We can funnel them!"

Valerian hesitated, his eyes searching Aric's, and Aric felt something coil tight between them, something he didn't want to name. He gave Valerian a shove, trying to ignore the pang in his chest.

Valerian nodded and scrambled up the racks, shards of broken glass crunching underfoot. He grabbed a wicked-looking axe with a blood-red blade and swung it toward the demons with a snarl.

Meanwhile, Aric spun around and lunged back into the fray, teeth gritted as he fought against the inhibitor cuffs and the demons' advance.

Valerian reached for a long staff with a crystalline head, currently dark but thrumming with energy. He twisted a series of rings on its shaft, and the crystal flared to life, a violet glowsuffusing the workshop. The air grew thick with static, and a high-pitched whine filled Aric's ears.

"What have you done?" Aric shouted, but his words were lost in the rising cacophony.

The crystal's glow intensified, the violet energy arcing around the workshop in a web of crackling lines. The air rippled like water, and pressure built beneath the surface, threatening to tear him apart.

Valerian turned toward him, a mad gleam in his eyes. "This is the culmination of our work. The Silver Tower's weapon, perfected."

He slammed the staff's butt into the stone floor, and the world exploded in a burst of violet light.

The world skidded sideways. Equipment twisted and melted, the walls of the workshop rippling like they'd turned to liquid. The air itself roared with energy, and the sound was deafening, a keening wail that drove into Aric's skull like an icepick.

"Valerian!" Aric shouted, but the air tore the name away.

The rift was shredding the demons with brutal efficiency, the violet energy ripping them apart, but it was also warping space, reality itself folding in on itself. A surge of panic clutched at Aric's chest as he watched the soldiers' armor twisting and mutating, their limbs elongating, bones cracking as they cried out in agony.

The workshop's stone walls shuddered, and the air was a rainbow of shifting colors, the ground bucking and heaving beneath Aric's feet. He stumbled, his vision blurring as the world lurched around him.

Valerian let out a triumphant cry and struck the tip of the blade against the ground. The energy surged again, the rift widening, the fabric of reality tearing with a sound like paper shredding.

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