Poppy's Adventure

The chamber thrums harder. Veyr’s chant drags the light from the altar into a thin, hungry ribbon, and Vael staggers as smoke curls from his scales.

The Armored Shapes step in, blades angled to keep Poppy and Vael pinned between steel and stone.

Vael plants one smoking hand against the floor, forcing himself upright beside Poppy. The glow under Veyr’s hands flickers redder, then stutters.

Veyr’s smile thins as he senses the shift, and the nearest armored blade starts forward to cut off their rush.

Poppy explodes forward through the narrowing gap, both fists driving into the altar’s red pulse. Black stone cracks under her knuckles.

The altar shudders, then caves inward in a burst of ash and splintered rune-stone. Veyr’s chant breaks on a raw inhale.

The stolen light snaps loose in jagged threads, whipping back across the chamber as the glow gutters low and ugly red.

Vael straightens hard beside Poppy, one hand pressed to the floor, his smoke thinning as the pressure on his scales eases.

The nearest Armored Shape hesitates at the collapsing dais, blades lifting uncertainly while the passage behind Poppy stays open and dark.