As those words slipped from Liam's mouth, the Umbra Star screamed forward.
It didn't travel in any conventional sense. There was no arc, no traceable path. One moment it hovered between Liam's fingers, a compact mass of writhing darkness and molten light—and the next, the space between him and Percy simply ceased to exist. The air tore apart in a violent flash, warped and folded as searing heat erupted outward. Shadows bent unnaturally toward the advancing sphere, dragged inward as if the Umbra Star possessed its own gravity, while the glowing cracks along its blackened surface flared brighter, pulsing rhythmically like the heartbeat of something alive and furious.
Percy's eyes widened sharply.
