Leona’s grin grew wider. “That’s it!” she screamed. “That was it! The old queens! Summon them!”
The Voidwarden’s fury grew louder. It had cleared enough stalactites to give itself room for a counterattack. Dark energy condensed and started twisting around on itself. The grin dissipated into the rest of its mass as it prepared to retaliate.
In a snap of movement, Jularra saw Leona spin, arms reaching out towards her. Some of Leona’s rings flew toward Jularra and encircled her.
Just as Leona’s protective measures swirled into place, the Voidwarden exploded in a shockwave of energy, shooting the debris and remaining whole stalactites out from its center. The blood continued to fill the pool, and the smoky rings surrounding both women dissipated. Jularra looked back to Leona, who was grasping for the air around the Voidwarden, struggling once again to contain it. The Voidwarden’s mass twisted and branched out, trying to find weaknesses in Leona’s energy.
Leona’s energy ebbed and flowed as she flung her hands around her. “Jularra?” Leona yelled with urgency.
Jularra looked down at the filling pool. She could only hope the accumulating blood meant the Gift Gods had granted her request to make use of the pool.
“Queen Briwinna. My ancestor. Lady of Water. Appear to me of your own accord.”
As Jularra worked to stay focused and concentrate on her incantation, a stream of blood defied gravity and flowed up along the inner wall of the pool, over the edge, and down the other side. Once it reached the floor, it ran quickly along a channel until it reached the front of Briwinna’s tomb.
Jularra’s courage had taken countless hits since the sun rose that day, but she was emboldened by the sight of the blood flowing through the channels in Briwinna’s tomb door, introducing a fresh layer of hope.
Once the blood had traveled the paths on the tomb door, Briwinna’s spirit began to take shape in front of the stone carvings. She had been summoned countless times through the ages by the Voidwarden, and upon seeing Jularra, her head tilted in confusion.
“Be free, and live again!” Jularra continued. “Reclaim the blood that was taken from you!”
The blood - which had come to rest within the channels of the tomb door - sprayed out and was caught by Briwinna’s spectral form. Her body began to fill in and shift from translucent to solid. Her hair and skin rippled with life. She brought her arms and hands up to look at them, and shivered when she felt the cold tickle of the chamber’s air once more. Her last wardrobe—which had rested in small alcoves within her tomb since the day she sacrificed herself—flew out and decorated her naked body. She choked her first breath, then looked to Jularra.
Jularra smiled and gazed back at her through tear-filled eyes. Considering the possibility of bringing her ancestors back to life was entirely different from actually seeing it happen.
Briwinna drifted over to the pool.
“Jularra?" she began.
“Please, we can’t talk just now. The Gift Gods have let me use the pool. I’m going to try and share its power with you. We need to restore the other three queens to help destroy the Voidwarden!”
Briwinna looked over at Leona, still struggling to keep the Voidwarden distracted.
“I know you've only just got your blood back,” Jularra rushed to explain, “but the pool needs a drop in order for you to command it. Cut yourself, and then summon one of the others. Hymtera's tomb is next to yours, yes?”
Briwinna nodded and quickly sliced her palm.
“Vylas!” Jularra shouted. “Help us summon the others!”
Vylas ran over. He took the dagger from Briwinna and cut his own palm, adding his blood to the pool. Jularra had to shout over the commotion between the Voidwarden and Leona.
“That's Briwinna! She’s going to summon Hymtera. I’ll summon Lilvili, and you summon Oprendia!”
Jularra caught Vylas’ gaze and waited for him to confirm he understood. He nodded.
As each turned to their respective queen’s tomb, a pulse of deep sound plummeted down into the room. Jularra winced and looked over her shoulder. The Voidwarden had found a weak spot in Leona’s constraint, pushed out, and broken her focus. For the moment, it was free.
Without looking at Jularra, Leona shouted, “Keep going!” She bounced on the balls of her feet and began chanting in preparation for her next ritual.
The Voidwarden was not going to miss its opportunity this time, however. It stormed towards the pool, ejecting ribbons of itself at those in the pool, as well as Leona.
The whipping darkness flung out and knocked each one of them over. As they lay, disoriented, the grotesque mass began to swell. Higher and higher it rose toward the ceiling of the massive chamber. Within moments, the Voidwarden had risen entirely from the floor and spread across the ceiling, trickling in and out of the room’s remaining rocky teeth. With geologic force, the Voidwarden stabbed back down through the room, punching through the floor, shaking the ground and opening up deadly cracks. The Voidwarden quickly seeped back up through the ground and consolidated back into its normal form.
As it settled, countless streams of scorching lava began to ooze up through the cracks. With each millimeter of ground the flows claimed, the room grew brighter. The walls and ceilings took on more of the glowing orange color from the blistering material.
“What gave any of you the idea that I could be overcome?” the Voidwarden asked, its voice grating with ancient arrogance.
“I have an agreement with this land. A bond!” It stopped walking to focus on its fury. “I made the terms of that agreement clear, ages ago! It has never been altered or misconstrued. And you seek to break that agreement? No. The repercussions of your failure to uphold it will not be prevented. If you seek to remove my ability to maintain
