The two advance scouts of the Shadow Legion were exemplary practitioners of silent warfare. They moved like phantoms through the narrow, rough-hewn passage leading into Kaelen's chamber, their boots scraping barely audible sounds on the rock. They were clad in reinforced black leather, carrying no visible magical artifacts, only the deadly Shifter Blades strapped to their backs.
They had detected the massive, dying Temporal Beacon and now assumed they had cornered an exhausted, reckless Archmage.
Kaelen and Elara stood in the center of the chamber. Kaelen's posture was rigid, his hands resting lightly on the Obsidian Staff. Elara was pressed against the back wall, observing the tunnel entrance with chilling intensity.
The first scout—a tall, heavily muscled woman—eased into the chamber. She immediately identified Kaelen as the target, noted his lack of defensive spells, and instantly reached for her Shifter Blade.
Kaelen didn't move. He allowed her to take two full steps into the room, ensuring both scouts were beyond the primary fissure line that Elara had identified.
The scout lunged, the Shifter Blade flashing toward Kaelen's exposed flank—a precise, silent strike designed to bypass his magical defenses and sever his Aether flow.
The blade connected.
Instead of the agonizing paralysis that should have followed, the blade met a field of inert, stabilizing energy. The scout felt only the cold, dull resistance of a non-magical, localized air current. The blade's anti-Aetheric properties were instantly neutralized by the active, ambient shell of the Echo Guard.
The scout's eyes widened in confusion—a reaction Kaelen had anticipated. She was trained to expect instant victory over a mage, not this unsettling stability.
"Now," Kaelen commanded Elara, his voice sharp and loud in the small cave.
Elara didn't hesitate. She placed her hands against the cold Ironwood wall at the precise point Kaelen had indicated, pressing her weight into the rock. It was a useless gesture in terms of force, but it was the final, non-magical cue Kaelen needed.
Kaelen plunged the base of his Obsidian Staff into the cave floor. He channeled a sudden, massive burst of his Blue Rank Aether into the ground, not to cast a spell of destruction, but to activate the two precise, minute destabilization points he had prepared using Elara's intelligence.
"Earth Bind, Internal Fracture!" Kaelen roared, pushing his magic against the Ironwood's resistance.
The effect was localized and devastating. The Aether surge triggered the pre-stressed chokepoints, causing the structural integrity of the main passage to fail instantly.
A sound like a massive, grinding cough ripped through the cave. The ceiling of the main entrance tunnel collapsed inward, pouring tons of Ironwood-saturated rock and debris down onto the passage.
The two scouts, already disoriented by the failure of the Shifter Blade, were trapped inside the main chamber. They were cut off from the rest of the Legion and sealed inside the Ironwood Crag—a chamber that actively suppressed their ability to communicate or use any specialized gear.
The second scout, who had barely entered the room, screamed and tried to scramble back, but the rockfall was too fast, sealing the cave opening completely.
Kaelen pulled his Staff from the ground, breathing heavily. The Echo Guard was still active, protecting his core, but the raw power needed for the fracture had nearly depleted his remaining reserves.
"They are sealed," Kaelen confirmed, his eyes fixed on the now-silent rockfall. "We eliminated the vanguard using their own rules of engagement. They cannot escape the Ironwood without a dedicated tunneling team, which Valerius does not have."
Elara, trembling slightly, rushed to his side. "They won't know where we went. They will assume we were sealed with them, or that the blast was the end of the reckless Archmage."
"No," Kaelen corrected, his gaze intense. He walked to the collapsed entrance, using a tiny Illumination Rune to inspect the debris. "They will know better. Their training is absolute. They will report that I used the Earth Bind spell, and they will realize they were lured into an Ironwood trap."
He paused, looking down at the obsidian rock he had transformed into a cage.
"This buys us seventy-two hours, Elara. The rest of the Shadow Legion will assume I am dead, but Valerius will confirm my death before changing course. He will send his last resort—his most powerful, terrifying asset, one who requires no magic to eliminate an opponent, and one whose appearance signals the true end of the timeline."
Kaelen turned from the rubble, his face set in grim prophecy.
"The Executor is coming."