The darkness swelled in answer, tendrils whipping to intercept. Two afterimages were swallowed instantly, but the third, the future strike slipped through her guard and struck, Keles body dispersed like dark smoke before reforming, a scar can be seen formed across her body as a golden ichor was about to poor out but didn't as the wound healed immediately.
Keles's smile faltered. "Clever," she admitted, flexing the injured shoulder as shadows seeped back into place. "But cleverness burns quickly."
Kairos did not answer. He exhaled once, and the afterimage of his attack dissolved into motes of fading blue light. Beneath his calm face, the drain was heavy, the rewinding knot had eaten deep into his mana storage.
With deliberate slowness, he turned and walked toward the throne that had waited for him since the moment he arrived. The seat of shadow and bone rose before him, its arms curling like the hands of an ancient clock.
