The battle ended only when the last golden warrior shattered.
Silence fell over the ruined street.
Cars burned.
Buildings leaned dangerously.
Glass and concrete covered everything like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Seraphine stood at the center of the destruction, breathing hard.
Silver energy still flickered faintly around her hands.
Beside her, Kael wiped fragments of golden armor from his fingers.
Thirty warriors.
All destroyed.
But neither of them felt victorious.
Seraphine looked up at the sky.
Her chest tightened immediately.
The cracks had grown.
What had once been thin golden fractures across the clouds were now wide glowing wounds in the sky itself.
And through those wounds
The moon was visible.
Even though it was day.
Even though the sun should have hidde
