We left the palace without a word. Night over Ifesto was unlike any night I had ever known before; a distorted sky bathed in the orange light of lava, and smoke choking the horizon.
I walked behind Alvira, wondering aloud, "How will we reach Solthar? These oceans... they're not water, but erupting lava."
She didn't answer, only gestured for me to keep following.
We took a winding path, passing through abandoned squares and half-burnt structures until we stopped before a massive building that looked like a charred stable, its iron doors still standing despite all it had endured.
Alvira pushed the door open in silence. Its creak split the stillness like a stab.
Inside, great creatures stood chained with thick shackles. Dragons, their colors twisted, their skins cracked like dry earth, and their glowing eyes watched us warily.
Alvira advanced without hesitation, patting the neck of one of them—a black dragon, with scales like the night and a chest glowing with fiery veins. It made no sound, as if it knew her.
With a swift gesture, she freed one of its restraints, then turned to me and said, "Our ride."
I simply looked at her, then at the dragon, which lowered its body to allow us to mount.
We climbed onto its back, and once Alvira settled in front of me, she shouted, "Hold on tight!"
The dragon launched upward, tearing through the heavy air with a single thrust, its wings cutting through the smoke and heat.
As we climbed, I couldn't help but ask, "You could've turned into a dragon yourself... wouldn't that have been easier?"
She laughed, her voice barely reaching me through the wind, "Such a transformation consumes an immense amount of energy. It would leave us drained for days! We can't afford that luxury."
I nodded in understanding.
We soared over seas of lava, fiery cracks writhing like serpents below us. The other islands were distant, each swimming in its own private hell.
A heavy silence passed, then Alvira suddenly asked me, "What about you? How did your body survive their attempts to kill you? And why did they leave half your power instead of finishing you off?"
I looked at the horizon and replied slowly, "When I first fought them... I was foolish. Arrogant. I fell into their traps easily. They tried to kill me many times, in ways the mind can hardly imagine."
I took a deep breath and continued, "But... I had something they couldn't take. Immortality. My soul's nature is bound to existence itself. No matter how hard they tried... my body would rebuild itself. My core power—the one tied to survival—was untouchable."
I paused for a moment, then added with a bitter smile, "They stole the important abilities... elemental control, cosmic energies, everything that made a fighter unbeatable. But they left me the rest... the ability to shift into shadow, partial immunity, limited control over shadows—all those trivial powers linked to my original roots."
Alvira didn't comment, but I caught a flicker of hidden respect in her eyes.
We kept flying for hours. Finally, the outline of Solthar Island appeared before us.
It wasn't the island I had imagined.
It was a silent hell. Black land, riddled with fiery cracks spewing toxic fumes. Distant volcanoes hurled their molten rage into the sky as if refusing to let any creature approach.
The dragon landed in a low area, among twisted black rocks. We dismounted quietly.
I asked her as I scanned the surroundings, "How will we find the Kakkino Mati here? This place looks like a living nightmare."
Alvira smiled with cold confidence, "Don't worry. I have a plan."
She moved toward the edge of the hill, overlooking the burning lowlands below. "The Kakkino Mati don't appear to just anyone..." she said, drawing complex symbols in the air as if summoning something hidden. "They are drawn to only two things: blood... or rare magical energy."
I stood beside her, watching as she pulled a small vial from her coat containing a mysterious purple liquid.
I asked cautiously, "What's that?"
She replied without looking at me, "An essence extract. The distilled energy of creatures slain in forbidden rituals. All we need to do is release the scent here... and they'll come."
I glanced around at the earth boiling like a cauldron, then back at her, "In other words... we're the bait."
She gave that dangerous smile I had seen before.
"Exactly."
I didn't argue. There was no other way.
Alvira poured the liquid onto a large nearby rock. As soon as it touched the ground, thick violet smoke billowed out, a suffocating stench flooding the air—a mixture of rot and burning iron, as if the whole world held its breath, listening to this unholy summons.
We stepped back, taking positions atop higher rocks, waiting.
Heavy minutes passed.
The sound of bubbling lava roared in our ears, the cracking of the earth filled the silence—everything teetered on the edge of eruption.
Then... we heard it.
A faint rustle, then a creaking like dying moans rising from the scattered shadows among the black stones.
The violet smoke suddenly compressed, as if sucked in by an unseen force, and from the cracks emerged twisted bodies, as if pieces of the night had peeled away from the darkness itself.
At first, they crawled... wobbling black masses, with no clear features. But with every step, they solidified, their bodies stretching and reshaping into long, clawed limbs. No faces, no eyes—only gaping mouths torn from side to side, grinding out terrifying noises.
Alvira whispered beside me, her eyes keen and alert, "First-rank entities... living shadows."
The creatures didn't wait long.
Suddenly, they lunged toward us with terrifying speed.
I jumped aside, dodging a long claw that pierced through the rock where I had been standing, sending sparks flying into my face.
Alvira raised her hands, drawing a quick circle, and unleashed a blast of black flame. The fire erupted among the creatures, but instead of burning, they split into smaller shadows, then reformed as if nothing had happened!
"Don't use direct fire!" Alvira shouted, leaping to my side while pulling out two slender, violet-glowing daggers.
I didn't need further orders.
I shifted into shadow, my body shattering and vaporizing into a dark cloud, darting between the rocks at blinding speed.
I passed through one of the entities, trying to slice through it, but felt a heavy resistance, as if pushing through dry mud. This wasn't normal darkness.
I reformed my full body behind them, drew my ether-forged dagger, and lunged at the nearest one.
I stabbed it straight through the center of its mass.
A muffled shriek escaped it, its limbs shattering like broken glass before it collapsed into black ash.
"Stab the heart, or don't bother!" Alvira shouted, dancing through the enemies with her daggers flashing like lightning bolts in a stormy night.
But the creatures didn't stop.
On the contrary... the more we killed, the more came crawling from the cracks.
Five... seven... ten...
Soon, we found ourselves completely surrounded.
I moved instinctively.
A leap toward a clawed entity, pulling my shadow to dodge its swipe, then appearing behind it and slicing through its core with a sharp blow.
It exploded into a gray cloud.
But another one lunged at me from behind!
I spun around, barely lifting myself off the ground, and fired a small shadow bolt that pierced its chest, freezing its movement for a moment.
Alvira didn't pause for a second. She danced among the enemies like a living flame, her daggers flashing like comet trails, each strike felling another shadow.
And yet...
They were more than we expected.
An attack from the front.
Another from the side.
A third entity sprouted directly from the ground beneath my feet!
A powerful claw strike hit my side, hurling me against a nearby rock. I felt my bones scream, but I forced myself to stand.
Wiping blood from my mouth, I looked at Alvira and saw her retreating with calculated steps, her face grim.
"They're multiplying..." I muttered.
She nodded.
"We have to stop them at the source. If we don't... we'll be crushed here."
I turned my gaze toward the fiery cracks... and there, amidst the dense smoke, I saw something strange.
A small black vortex, pulsing slowly like a rotten heart.
Their source.
I shouted.
"Cover me."
Without waiting, I dashed with all the speed I could muster, my body moving like a darting shadow, dodging claws, slashes, and shrieks.
First-rank entities tried to stop me, but they weren't prepared for this speed.
A leap...
A roll mid-air...
And I drove my dagger with full force into the black vortex.
A mighty scream filled the valley.
The ground trembled beneath our feet.
The assault halted for a moment.
Then the entities began to disintegrate one by one, collapsing into black dust that scattered with the hot wind.
I stood, breathing heavily.
I cast a quick glance at Alvira, who was wiping her dagger with the edge of her cloak.
She gave me a small smile.
"Not bad..." she said, her tone carrying something close to acknowledgment.
I was about to reply... when the ground shook again.
Something strange was happening.