Nathan and Elara shot forward shoulder-to-shoulder, perfectly in sync despite the chaos.
Nathan's blade crackled with lightning—he didn't even consciously summon it; adrenaline simply pulled the affinity out of him.
He cleaved through the first shadow.
It burst like a puff of black smoke.
Elara drove her spear straight through another, earth-reinforced tip shattering its torso with a shockwave that rippled the fog.
"Left!" she called.
Nathan pivoted, slashing twice more, sparks scattering.
"Got it!"
Dorian disappeared—
Not faded.
Not slipped.
Disappeared.
Even the fog didn't know how to follow him.
A shadow lunged for Merlin's back—
Dorian's dagger slid out of the fog, catching the creature at the neck, bisecting it cleanly before dissolving back into nothing.
Another shadow swooped low at Liliana—
Dorian reappeared behind it, blade already buried in its spine.
"Stay centered," he murmured to Liliana. "The fog wants panic."
Liliana nodded, face pale but determined.
