Leah moved.
Not with hesitation.
Not with fear.
She charged.
Her boots tore across the clearing, smashing through scattered bones and wet soil as she drove herself forward. Each step pounded into the ground with brutal force, spraying dirt behind her heels.
The battlefield still trembled from the creature's roar.
Fog rolled in ragged waves.
Broken branches swayed and creaked overhead.
Mauris' body lay crumpled and silent in the mud.
But Leah saw only one thing.
The creature.
And beyond it;
Thalia.
Her sword arm stretched behind her like a drawn bowstring, blade trailing low and ready to whip forward. Her other arm cut through the cold air before her, guiding her momentum as she sprinted.
Ten steps.
Eight.
Six.
The creature turned its head.
Slowly.
Almost lazily.
Its burning red eyes slid away from Thalia's suspended body and locked onto Leah.
Something shifted in those eyes.
Curiosity.
Predatory interest.
Leah didn't slow.
She ran harder.
Five steps.
Four;
The creature lifted its free hand.
Long black fingers unfolded one by one.
The elongated central claw extended outward while the others curled inward.
Then the fingers rolled together slowly.
Like twisting an invisible thread in the air.
The claw pointed directly at Leah.
A dry crack split the fog.
SNAP.
The sound echoed unnaturally through the clearing.
A violent burst of invisible force detonated from the creature's hand.
The air warped.
Compressed.
Then exploded forward.
A ripping wave of distorted energy tore across the ground toward Leah, shredding mist and scattering bone fragments like dry leaves.
Leah reacted instantly.
She dropped low and threw herself into a sliding dive, boots carving a long trench through the soil.
The blast screamed over her back.
So close the pressure scraped across the armor on her shoulders.
Behind her, the shockwave smashed into a dead tree and split it down the middle with a thunderous crack.
Leah rolled out of the slide and surged back to her feet.
Still running.
Still closing the distance.
The creature's fingers rolled again.
SNAP.
Another burst erupted.
Leah twisted violently to the right.
The blast ripped past her left shoulder, shredding strands of her hair as it passed.
She didn't look back.
Another snap.
SNAP.
This wave tore across the ground.
Leah jumped.
Her body arced over the screaming wall of energy as it ripped through the dirt beneath her boots, sending soil spraying skyward.
She landed hard.
Kept running.
Thirty feet.
Twenty.
Behind the creature;
Thalia's body still hung suspended in the air.
But something changed.
The creature's attention shifted.
Its burning gaze slid away from her.
Toward Frauner emerging through the fog.
And the moment its focus moved;
The invisible grip around Thalia loosened.
The streams of black smoke pouring from her body faltered.
The thin dark strands wavered in the air like dying flames.
The creature's mouth remained open for a moment longer.
But the pull was gone.
The smoke thinned.
Faded.
And vanished completely.
Thalia's body dropped.
For one brief instant she simply hung there;
Weightless.
Then gravity claimed her.
She fell.
Her body crashed down onto the bone-littered ground with a heavy THUD.
Dust and fragments scattered around her impact.
Her arms lay limp at her sides.
Her head rolled slightly to one side.
Her eyes were closed.
Unconscious.
She didn't move.
Not even a breath strong enough to stir the fog.
But the creature no longer cared.
Its red eyes had narrowed.
Its claw lifted again.
Energy gathered around its hand, distorting the air like heat above a fire.
SNAP.
A far stronger burst erupted.
Leah had nowhere left to dodge.
Her boots slammed into the ground.
She raised her sword with both hands.
The wave struck.
BOOM.
The impact detonated against the blade.
The force thundered through her arms like a lightning strike.
Her entire body was driven backward.
Her boots dug trenches through the soil as she fought to hold her ground.
The metal screamed.
But the blade held.
For a moment.
Energy split along the steel, part of it deflecting sideways and blasting through nearby trees.
Leah roared through clenched teeth;
Then lunged forward again.
The creature snapped its fingers once more.
Leah swung her sword to intercept.
The energy wave struck.
CRACK.
The blade shattered.
Metal fragments exploded outward like shrapnel.
Jagged shards spun through the fog before vanishing into the mist.
Leah staggered backward.
Her empty hand still clenched around the broken hilt.
The creature's claw pointed again.
SNAP.
The next blast hit her square in the chest.
BOOM.
The force lifted her completely off her feet.
Her body was hurled across the clearing like a rag doll.
She hit the ground hard.
Rolled.
Bones cracked beneath her weight.
Dirt smeared across her armor.
She finally skidded to a stop against a broken tree root.
The creature lowered its hand.
Then;
It paused.
Something moved in the fog.
A shadow cutting through the mist.
Fast.
Unsteady.
But determined.
Frauner.
Blood soaked the side of his armor.
One shoulder hung lower than the other.
But he kept moving.
Driving forward with raw, stubborn will.
He burst through the fog with a hoarse roar, raising his sword in both hands.
With the last of his strength he leapt.
Swinging the blade toward the creature's neck.
For one fleeting instant;
Steel came within inches of flesh.
Then the creature turned.
Its head snapped toward him.
And it roared.
A deafening, monstrous bellow tore from its throat.
"RRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
The air convulsed.
A massive circular shockwave erupted outward from its body.
Frauner was caught mid-air.
The expanding blast struck him like the blow of a giant hammer.
His body was hurled violently backward.
Higher.
Further.
The creature kept roaring.
The expanding shockwave drove him away through the air.
Frauner's blood sprayed behind him in dark streaks.
His armor began to fail.
The shoulder plate shattered first.
Then the hand guard burst apart.
Metal fragments scattered through the mist.
The knee armor split, spinning away into the trees.
Frauner kept flying.
Higher.
Further back.
His body spinning helplessly between the towering trunks.
His eyes slowly began to close.
Strength fading.
Below;
Leah lifted her head from the ground.
Her vision blurred.
She saw him.
Saw his body being thrown through the forest.
Her heart stopped.
"Frauner…"
Her voice cracked into a whisper.
He was still moving.
Further.
Further away.
Blood trailing through the air.
His eyes slowly closing.
Tears burst from Leah's eyes.
"FRAUNEEEEEEEEER!"
Her scream tore across the forest.
Raw.
Broken.
Terrified.
"FRAAAAAAAAAAAUNEERRRRRRR!"
Her voice shattered into sobs.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"