Chapter 31: Three Heartbeats
CLASH!
The scream of steel against steel tore through the chamber.
Kael spun, heart jackhammering against his ribs, just in time to witness Garrick’s twin swords crashing against Aric Blackthorn’s sweeping scythe, halting it inches from opening Kael’s throat.
His instincts didn’t ask—they screamed. He hurled himself backward, boots shrieking across the polished obsidian tiles as he skidded away.
“What in the burning hells?!” he shouted, but his voice was consumed by chaos.
No one heard him.
Not Aric. Not Garrick.
Their eyes locked onto each other, worlds shrinking into a tunnel where only the other existed.
There were no words.
Only sparks and silver arcs, flashing and scattering like starlight on a black ocean.
Kael clutched the space where the scyt
