Time blurred into rhythm—an endless cycle of calls and motion.
"Left—two steps! Now, jump!"
Caelen obeyed instantly, boots detonating against fractured stone, his body pivoting midair. The golden cracks webbing across his skin blazed brighter, each one a vein of molten light straining against flesh.
The priest's colossal hand carved down like a guillotine.
BOOOOM.
The ground split apart as if the earth itself had been cleaved, shards of shattered gargoyle bodies scattering in the wake. Dust geysered upward, choking the chamber, wings splintering to pieces before raining down like brittle ash.
Again and again, they repeated the deadly dance. Eli's voice cracked like a whip across the battlefield, commanding sharp turns and brutal dodges. Caelen moved exactly as directed, each step tearing into stone, each leap burning streaks of golden light through the haze.
