Chapter 17
The Price of Power
The battle rages. AJ and Akari’s bond is their greatest strength. They must make a sacrifice, pushing the artifact’s power to its limit, understanding the true cost of wielding such ancient energy.
The air crackled, thick with the metallic tang of ozone and the acrid bite of fear. Nick’s sneer was a grotesque caricature against the flickering streetlights, his eyes glinting with a predatory hunger that had nothing to do with the drugs he peddled. He lunged, a blur of motion, his hand reaching for the pulsating artifact clutched in Akari’s trembling grasp.
"It's mine, you street rats!" he snarled, his voice a guttural rasp.
AJ reacted before the thought even fully formed. A whirlwind of desperate energy, he threw himself between Nick and Akari, his body a shield. The impact was jarring, a sickening crunch of bone against bone, but AJ held firm. He could feel Akari’s frantic heartbeat against his back, a frantic drum against the cacophony of the fight.
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