She rose slowly, staff in one hand and sword in the other. A storm raged across the battlefield, and lightning rent the sky. Seraphina raised the staff, and for one moment, time did indeed stand still. The serpent re-emerged, massive and writhing across the clouds, its golden eyes ablaze. Its voice thundered out into the storm. "The sacrifice is done. The crown belongs to you, if you are brave enough to bear it." Power surged into Seraphina's veins, not as a blessing but as burden. She stood up her mother's staff and thrust it into the earth. Earth trembled, and a great wall of vines sprang up along the riverbank, barring the path of the invaders.
