The world erupted in noise and light.
Avery barely had time to raise her weapon before the first wave of force hit, flinging her across the cathedral steps. Stone shattered under her weight, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs. She rolled, gasping, as shards of corrupted energy crackled around her like living lightning.
The creature loomed in the fractured air — towering, fluid, shifting between form and formlessness. Its body shimmered like obsidian glass laced with veins of fire. Each movement left streaks of distortion that bent the world around it, as though reality itself recoiled from its presence.
Kael’s voice tore through the comm link, calm despite the chaos. “Flank right! Keep it contained!”
The strike team moved with practiced precision. Liora vanished into a blur
