A condensed shadow lunged forward, its blade-like arm already descending toward a fallen soldier who could no longer rise.
The soldier raised his shield out of instinct rather than hope. The metal would not hold. Nothing had held so far.
Before the shadow's edge could fall, something struck it from the side with such force that the air itself cracked.
The shadow monster was physically thrown. The force behind the strike did not merely redirect it; it disrupted its cohesion.
For a fraction of a second, the darkness lost shape entirely, stretching like ink flung across glass before snapping back together mid-flight. It crashed into the frozen earth and skidded across the blood-soaked ground.
A figure stood where it had been moments before. Varek exhaled slowly, and the dark-blue tattoos across his body glowed. The glow pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. Steam rose from his skin despite the cold.
