His eyes opened.
They were dark and deep, like balls of obsidian, but very much alive.
He drew in a breath, long, rasping, and hollow, and the throne room seemed to listen with him. And there was a loud sound of stone grinding against stone.
And the throne room was washed over with the same red light she had seen at the mountain's peak.
The man lifted his head. His movements were stiff, and reluctance, as though she didn't enjoy motion itself, or had forgotten how to perform them.
Then, sharply, he pointed a finger at Sonder, and from seemingly out of nowhere, two dark knights jumped at her, swords out and ready to strike.
As she had been ready for any sign of trouble, Sonder jumped away. Their swords hit nothing but air.
They were lesser knights but were still a threat nonetheless, and they didn't hesitate.
One came low and fast, their blade aimed for Sonder's legs, while the other advanced slowly and steadily, weapon measured in an arc meant to drive her back, to pin her in place.
Sonder snapped her staff downward as a barrier flared into existence in front of her. The first knight's blade struck it and skidded away in a spray of sparks.
She didn't like it. No matter how trained she was, she was no fighter, but it seemed that she had to.
Lifting up the staff as the second knight jumped over the barrier, she hit him with a pulse.
Usually just one was enough to blast someone off their feet, but it didn't seem to affect the knight at all, and he continued on without any hindrance.
She was unprepared for that and had to dodge to the side, losing a great chunk of hair because of the swing of the knight.
They drifted away like dark threads.
She staggered back, more startled than hurt.
She had misjudged. The pulse should have thrown the knight clear across the hall.
It hadn't even slowed him down.
They didn't grunt, and they didn't hesitate even a second.
Sonder twisted the staff and pushed a barrier forward, slamming it into the first knight.
The force carried his entire weight, shoving him against a wall. The stone cracked faintly, and dust spilled.
She built more walls from barriers and tried to capture him in a cube, like she did with the kobolds.
She succeeded, but as haphazardly as they were conjured, it wouldn't hold him for long.
The second knight was already on her, and she barely had time to duck as the sword was swung.
The knight was so quick and stuck to Sonder while she tried to avoid him that she had no time to pull out her own sword.
When she found a single instance to retaliate while the knight was preparing for another block, she tried another pulse, but far more powerful this time and sustained until the knight was beaten.
The knight's sword and Sonder's hand, where she channeled her pulse through, almost met, but they stood just a finger's length away, repelled from each other.
The knight drew back. It was like an unbearable weight was upon him.
He fell to his knees, creating a small crater.
He trembled, but he was beginning to rise again, first raising his sword.
It was aimed at Sonder's hand and, slowly, against the weight, was reaching its goal.