Lira Valenti's body wasn't her own. The specter—her voice, cold and alive—surged through her, silver light blazing in her eyes as she raised a rune-etched blade against Elias. Sand choked the air, Sarn's collapsed shrine trembling under a sky torn by violet lightning. Sixth-nation runes flickered on the broken walls, their glow fading like her hope. Three beasts roared outside, their scales shimmering, claws tearing stone. The sixth-nation guardian, a towering shadow cloaked in starlight, chanted her name, its voice echoing: "Your blood, my Accord." Kael's ship loomed on the horizon, his possessed figure holding a crystal pulsing with her stolen runes. Veyra knelt in the rubble, her face streaked with tears, her shattered crystal at her feet. "I didn't know," she sobbed, her betrayal summoning the guardian. Mira fought a beast at the shrine's edge, her crimson cloak ripped, her dark energy flaring. "Lira, fight it!" she screamed, her voice raw with desperation. Elias dodged Lira's blade, his sea-glass eyes wide with fear and love. "Lira, it's me!" His Veyran pendant glowed, a lifeline in the chaos.
Lira's arm burned, her runes flickering, the parchment in her pocket cold. Her Echowriting, her rune-magic voice, fought the specter's grip, but it whispered: "You're my vessel." Her body moved, slashing again, and Elias stumbled, blood seeping from his arm. Her heart screamed, trapped inside, her muteness a cage. Koren, the sixth-nation survivor, swung his star-etched staff, silver light slicing a spectral warrior. "I doomed us," he said, voice heavy. "I hid the orb to save the sixth nation, but it cursed Voicekeepers like you." His blade glinted, his treachery bared. Lira's heart sank—another traitor.
Her runes sparked, defiance rising. She scratched a star-circle into the rubble, her nails bloody, silver light surging. The specter recoiled, her body shaking, and she staggered, her vision clearing. Elias caught her, his arms strong, his breath ragged. "You're back," he whispered, his lips brushing hers—a kiss, desperate and warm, reigniting her fire. Her pulse raced, his touch grounding her, but doubt crept in. What do you know about Koren? About Mira? Her gray eyes searched his, the specter's whisper lingering: "He hides the truth."
Mira's energy blasted the first beast, its claws grazing her. "I won't let you die," she shouted, her dagger flashing. Lira's heart twisted—Mira, her twin, the one who cursed her, now fighting for her? The second beast lunged, and Lira scratched a jagged star into the air, light exploding, shoving it back. Pain seared her arm, the curse tightening, her breath shallow. "Your voice is ours," the specter hissed, clawing at her mind.
Koren's staff dimmed, his blade raised. "The Accord enslaved Voicekeepers," he said, eyes dark. "I helped them hide it, thinking it would save us." Lira's breath caught. Enslaved? She stumbled toward a glowing orb in the shrine's heart, its runes matching her parchment. She touched it, and a vision slammed into her—sand under a crimson sky, a Voicekeeper bleeding on an altar, her runes fading as Kael, young and cold, betrayed her. "Your blood curses us all," she whispered, shadows swallowing her. Lira woke, gasping, the orb's words burning: "The Voicekeeper's blood ends the Accord."
Veyra crawled forward, her hands shaking. "I thought I could save him," she whispered, her brother's fate binding her to the Council. Her betrayal stung, but her regret felt real. The guardian's chant grew louder, its claws raking the shrine. Lira's runes flared, scratching a star-circle into the orb. Light blazed, weakening the specter, but Veyra's eyes widened, and she raised a hidden crystal shard. "I'm sorry," she said, smashing it. The shrine quaked, a sixth-nation illusion erupting—sand turned to crimson, the ruins a burning city, the Voicekeeper's death replaying.
Lira stood in the illusion, her body trembling, the specter's grip loosening. She saw the Voicekeeper fall, her runes fading, Kael's betrayal sealing the Accord. Elias grabbed her, his blood mixing with hers, his kiss a vow. "I won't lose you," he said, his pendant glowing. But his eyes flicked to Koren, hiding something. Mira dove between Lira and the third beast, her energy faltering, her body bloodied. "For you," she gasped, collapsing. Lira's heart broke—Mira's sacrifice, real.
The illusion deepened, the guardian towering, its voice Lira's. "Your blood, my vessel." Veyra's shard pulsed, summoning a fourth beast, its eyes glowing with Lira's runes. Koren's blade flashed, aimed at the orb, his treachery clear. "I hid it to survive," he hissed. The illusion trapped them, the Voicekeeper's death replaying, and the fourth beast roared, its claws aimed at Elias, whispering: "He knows Kael's truth."