The shadow rose, massive and jagged, its molten silver eyes locking onto Aria with an intelligence that made her spine shiver. Its form was unlike anything she had seen, even the skeletal shadow and crystal creatures of before seemed small and simple compared to this. This being was alive in a way that defied understanding, its edges shifting like liquid obsidian, cracks along its body leaking a dark, pulsing light.
Kael tumbled backward from the shard that had split beneath him, but Aria’s embers shot outward instantly, forming a bridge of golden light that caught him mid fall. She grasped his arm, pulling him to safety, but the ground beneath them quaked again. The shards themselves groaned, bending and splitting as the shadow advanced.
“Stay close!” Aria shouted, voice echoing across
