### Chapter 3: Cracks in Divine Unity
The divine gate stood tall, towering over the edge of the Pleroma like a sentinel carved from light itself. Its surface shimmered and shifted, intricate patterns of energy weaving in and out of existence like a living tapestry. On any other day, it might have been a symbol of strength, of order—proof that the Pleroma’s harmony could hold against whatever voidling nonsense tried to claw its way in.
But today? Today it was a war zone.
Kahina’s blade sliced through the air, its arc leaving a trail of burning light that carved through the shadow-beast in front of her. The creature shrieked as it dissolved, its form unraveling into a mess of black and silver threads before vanishing entirely. Another one lunged at her from the side, its jagged claws glinting like shards of broken mirrors, and she spun, her wings flaring as she drove her blade into its chest.
“Lyrion!” she shouted, her voice sharp over the din of battle. “Left flank!”
Across the battlefield, Lyrion was already moving, his staff spinning in a blur of golden light as he deflected a swarm of smaller voidlings that had begun to converge near the base of the gate. His movements were precise, calculated—every strike, every glyph he cast was deliberate, efficient. It was infuriating, really, how calm he looked, even in the middle of a fight that was very clearly spiraling out of control.
“I see it,” he called back, his tone maddeningly composed. “Keep the central line steady.”
“Yeah, working on it!” Kahina growled, her wings beating hard as she launched herself upward to intercept another wave of attackers. They were coming faster now, spilling through the cracks in the gate’s energy field like water through a sieve.
The gate wasn’t supposed to *have* cracks.
Kahina’s blade clashed with another creature, its twisted, writhing form screeching as her light burned through it. She landed hard, the impact cracking the crystalline ground beneath her feet, and spun to deflect another strike.
“Lyrion,” she shouted again, her frustration boiling over, “we’re losing control of the line!”
Lyrion didn’t respond immediately, too busy forcing back a cluster of voidlings with a burst of golden glyphs. When he finally spoke, his voice was clipped, his focus still on the fight.
“Then fall back to the secondary formation,” he said. “We can’t hold this position if the gate’s stabilizers keep failing.”
“Fall back?” Kahina snapped, her blade slicing through another attacker as she turned toward him. “Are you serious? If we fall back, we lose the gate entirely!”
“If we stay here, we lose *everything*,” Lyrion shot back, his staff glowing as he unleashed another wave of energy that sent several voidlings scattering. “The gate’s unstable. It’s not holding. We need to regroup—now.”
Kahina’s wings flared, her golden light blazing brighter as her frustration spilled over into action. She drove her blade into the ground, sending a shockwave of energy rippling outward to clear the immediate area of attackers. The voidlings shrieked and scattered, giving her just enough breathing room to turn fully toward Lyrion.
“Regroup?” she demanded, her voice sharp. “That’s your big plan? Retreat and hope the gate doesn’t collapse while we’re running away? You do realize what’s on the other side of that thing, right?”
Lyrion’s eyes narrowed, his golden gaze locking onto hers as he stepped toward her, his staff still glowing faintly in his hand. “Of course I do,” he said, his tone cold. “But if the gate collapses while we’re standing here, it won’t matter what’s on the other side. We’ll be dead before we can do anything about it.”
The battlefield around them was chaos, the air thick with the screeches of voidlings and the sharp crackle of clashing energies. The gate itself pulsed erratically, its intricate patterns flickering as its stabilizers strained under the onslaught.
Kahina clenched her jaw, her hands tightening around the hilt of her blade. “We’re not retreating,” she said, her voice low and fierce. “Not while we still have a chance to hold this line.”
“Chance?” Lyrion shot back, his wings flaring slightly as he took another step toward her. “Kahina, look around you. This isn’t holding a line—it’s delaying the inevitable. The gate’s already failing, and if we don’t fall back, we’re going to be standing here when it explodes in our faces.”
“Then stop talking and help me stabilize it!” Kahina snapped, her wings beating hard as she turned back toward the gate. “We can still fix this—we just need to hold them off long enough to—”
“To what?” Lyrion interrupted, his voice sharp now, cutting through the chaos like a blade. “To hope the gate magically repairs itself? That’s not a strategy—it’s wishful thinking.”
Kahina turned on him, her golden eyes blazing with fury. “And running away is what, exactly? A brilliant act of leadership? This is exactly why I hate working with you, Lyrion—you never *commit* to anything. Always playing it safe, always calculating.”
“And you’re always reckless,” Lyrion shot back, his tone icy. “Charging in without thinking, without planning. Do you even realize how many times I’ve had to save you from your own stupidity?”
“Stupidity?” Kahina barked, her wings flaring as she stepped closer, her blade still glowing in her hand. “At least I’m willing to *act,* Lyrion. At least I’m willing to take a risk instead of hiding behind your precious logic while everything burns around us.”
The air between them crackled with tension, their light flaring as their argument escalated. The battlefield around them seemed to blur, the chaos fading into the background as they squared off, their words sharp and cutting.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, the silence between them louder than the fight raging around them.
And then, a deafening crack split the air.
Both of them turned toward the gate as its surface flickered violently, the intricate patterns of energy tearing apart like shredded fabric. A massive voidling—a towering, hulking thing with too many limbs and a face that was more void than flesh—was forcing its way through the largest crack, its form twisting and writhing as it clawed at the edges of the gate.
The stabilizers failed completely.
Kahina and Lyrion moved at the same time, their argument forgotten as they launched themselves toward the gate.
“Hold the line!” Kahina shouted, her blade igniting as she charged the creature, her wings blazing behind her like a comet.
“Stabilize the gate!” Lyrion barked, his staff flaring as he summoned a series of glowing glyphs that spiraled toward the crack, their light wrapping around the gate’s edges in an attempt to hold it together.
The voidling roared, its form distorting as it pushed harder, its limbs slashing at the air. Kahina met it head-on, her blade slicing through one of its limbs with a burst of golden light. The creature shrieked, but it didn’t stop—it never stopped.
“Lyrion!” she shouted, her voice strained. “A little help here!”
“I’m *busy!*” Lyrion snapped, his glyphs flaring brighter as he poured more energy into stabilizing the gate. “If I don’t hold this together, we’re all dead!”
Kahina growled in frustration, her wings beating hard as she dodged another strike from the voidling. “Then hurry up, genius!”
“Maybe if someone wasn’t so obsessed with *holding the line,* I wouldn’t have to!” Lyrion shot back, his tone biting.
Their words cut through the chaos, but they didn’t stop moving. They couldn’t.
The gate shuddered violently, its light flickering as the voidling forced itself further through the crack. The ground beneath them cracked and splintered, glowing fissures spreading outward like veins of fire.
Kahina drove her blade into the voidling’s chest, her light blazing as she forced it back. “Stabilize the gate, Lyrion,” she shouted, her voice fierce. “I’ll handle this.”
Lyrion didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. His focus was already on the glyphs, on the light, on the cracks spreading through the gate like fractures in glass.
They worked together, even as they fought. Even as the cracks in the gate—and in their partnership—threatened to tear everything apart.
The Pleroma held.
For now.
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