The heavy iron sole of Brody's boot landed against the courtyard flagstones, and the faint click within the basalt lantern detonated into an invisible tidal wave.
The air above Cloud Mist Peak did not simply grow heavy, but condensed instantly into a physical, suffocating mass that fell like a dropped quarry slab. Ten enforcers had just vaulted the western parapet with their blades bared and their eyes locked on the pavilion, yet the moment their weight transferred onto the stone tiles, the modified pressure array locked onto their bone marrow. The ambient spiritual currents, which had flowed so placidly around the bubbling spring moments before, solidified into a vise that stripped the momentum straight out of their limbs.
A chorus of choked gasps tore through the mist as the crushing g
