Page 272 of When Sisters Collide
Before Alena could stop him, he shot forward—fast as lightning, sword and shield blurring into motion. Leukos moved with him, ice-blue magic flaring up his arms.
Dalmatius met them head-on, a sharp smile cutting across his face. Fire erupted from his hands in a thunderous roar, but Leukos was ready. He summoned circular shields of ice that shattered the blaze with a hiss of steam and flickering light.
Nik darted through the smoke, a phantom in motion, blade sparking off Dalmatius’ armour. He zipped left, drawing fire—then swerved right, Leukos casting another shield behind him, dissolving flames into mist and forcing Dalmatius to split his focus.
Alena’s heart pounded. With Dalmatius held at bay, she moved closer. “Kat.”
Her sister remained a statue, wrapped in unnatural stillness. Every instinct screamed caution, but she pressed on. “It’s me.”
No response.
Behind Katell, magic clashed in an explosive blast, light flaring and steam shrieking into the air. Alena flinched, raising an arm against the scalding mist, heat clawing at her skin.
“Kat, please!” Her voice broke with panic. “Look at me! Whatever they did to you, it’s not who you are. You’re stronger than this—you always were!”
Still, Katell didn’t blink. Her eyes remained fathomless, unseeing wells of black.
Down the river path, Rasennan soldiers appeared in tight formation—shields locked at the front, on the flanks, and overhead. A wall of bronze, bristling with cold precision. Spears protruded from the gaps like teeth.
A pulse of ice erupted with a thunderouscrack. Spires shot from the ground, shredding the shield wall. Wood and bronze splintered; cries of pain rang out as soldiers scrambled to escape the jagged frost.
Dalmatius snarled, rivers of fire bursting from his hands. Flames swept the path, forcing Nik back in a blur. Leukos raised both arms—ice surged up to meet the blaze.
Magic collided mid-air with a deafeningboom, flames and frost locked in a storm of raw power.
The air split open.
A shockwave rippled outwards, striking Alena with the force of a brick wall. Magic seeped into her skin, igniting every nerve. She staggered back, coughing, heat and frost washing over her in suffocating waves. Smoke and steam thickened, choking her breath, blinding her sight.
Through the haze, Katell waited—silent, still, untouched.
Alena stumbled forward, breath ragged. She reached out, her hand shaking.
“Kat,” she whispered, the name catching in her throat. “Please—come back to me.”
Her fingers brushed Katell’s arm. It was cold beneath her touch.
Finally, her sister turned—but her focus wasn’t on Alena, but beyond.
The air went unnaturally still.
Something shifted behind Alena, chilling, unsettling. Dark magic crept over her skin, sinking into her bones.
Her blood froze.
She spun?—
Too late.
A third Makhai loomed inches away, shrouded in ash and black rags.
Alena’s chest clenched. Her mouth opened to scream, but no sound came.
The demon towered above her, its armour grotesquely fused with flesh—melted breastplates and shattered helms swallowed by blackened muscle. Its head was crowned with rusted spikes, and where its face should’ve been, a yawning void gaped beneath layers of rotted cloth.
Her body locked. Terror rooted her in place, squeezing the air from her lungs. She couldn’t move. Could hardly breathe?—
A skeletal hand rose, bloodied claws dripping with the promise of death.
