"Shit!" Kael cursed as he realized what happened. He was used as bait. Not by the snakes. Not by Baltak. By the Sun Clan too.
They'd left him standing in the open with strangers and nightfall, and they'd run back to safety to fetch backup that might arrive too late, if it arrived at all.
The first to charge him was a short man with a stone axe in hand. He jumped at Kael, weapon ready to burst his head open in one swing.
The man's face was twisted in excitement, teeth bared, eyes gleaming like he already imagined the loot. The axe came down in a brutal arc, not refined, just heavy and eager.
Kael's heart ramped up, far faster than normal, then, as if it had reached a throttling point, it calmed down again.
The shift was so sudden it felt unnatural, like his body had slammed into a limit and then slipped into another gear entirely. His breathing steadied. His mind sharpened. The world narrowed.
