Steel rang again across the broken ridge.

  Draven’s halberd came down in a crushing arc aimed straight for Riven’s head.

  Riven barely raised the spear in time.

  The impact slammed through his arms and drove him backward several feet across the fractured stone. His boots scraped hard against the ground as he fought to keep his footing.

  “Little help!” he barked.

  Aurelion moved instantly.

  His blade struck toward Draven’s exposed side, forcing the Executioner to twist his halberd and redirect the strike.

  The two weapons collided in a shriek of metal.

  Draven stepped forward through the clash.

  Relentless.

  His halberd reversed direction in a brutal backhand sweep that forced Aurelion to duck low as the blade carved through the air above him.

  Riven lunged from the side.

  The spear thrust toward Draven’s ribs.

  Draven rotated the halberd shaft and knocked the attack aside before it landed.

  The weapon swung downward again.

  Aurelion caught the strike with his sword.

  The impact drove him down to one knee.

  The ridge trembled beneath them.

  Corin’s voice cut across the battlefield.

  “Right side!”

  Riven reacted instantly.

  He twisted sideways as the halberd’s blade whipped past where his shoulder had been.

  “Step forward!” Corin shouted.

  Aurelion surged upward from his kneeling position, forcing Draven to shift his stance.

  Riven drove the spear forward again.

  This time the blade scraped along Draven’s armor and cut another shallow groove across the shoulder plate.

  Draven stepped back.

  Not far.

  Just enough to reset his footing.

  But Corin could see the problem now.

  Aurelion’s breathing had grown heavier.

  Riven’s stance was beginning to falter.

  They had held the line.

  But only barely.

  Another few exchanges like this—

  And they would break.

  Behind them—

  Kael finally stood.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Slowly.

  The carved stone Erythea had given him rested tightly in his palm.

  He closed his fingers around it once.

  Then stepped forward.

  The shadow beneath his feet moved with him.

  But it did not erupt outward like before.

  Instead—

  It compressed.

  The air around him felt heavier.

  Denser.

  The ground beneath his boots cracked slightly as the pressure tightened inward.

  Riven noticed first.

  “…He’s up,” he muttered.

  Aurelion glanced back briefly.

  Something about Kael felt different.

  The shadow didn’t thrash.

  It gathered.

  Focused.

  Kael walked forward calmly.

  Not rushing.

  Not charging.

  Just stepping into the battlefield.

  Draven noticed immediately.

  His eyes shifted past Riven and Aurelion.

  Locked onto Kael.

  The halberd lifted again.

  But this time—

  Draven waited.

  Kael stepped into position beside them.

  The three of them formed a loose line across the ridge.

  Corin exhaled slowly from the edge of the battlefield.

  “Good,” he murmured.

  Then he pointed.

  “Incoming!”

  Draven moved.

  The halberd swept forward in a brutal strike aimed straight toward Riven’s chest.

  Kael stepped in.

  The staff rose.

  The halberd struck it with thunderous force.

  But this time—

  The impact didn’t explode outward.

  The energy collapsed inward instead.

  Compressed.

  The ground beneath Kael’s feet cracked sharply.

  But the shockwave never spread.

  The staff held.

  Draven’s eyes narrowed slightly.

  He pushed harder against the weapon.

  The staff did not move.

  Kael’s voice was calm.

  “Not this time.”

  He twisted the staff sideways.

  The halberd slid off its length and crashed into the dirt beside him.

  Draven stepped back instantly.

  Watching him.

  Then spoke quietly.

  “Authority stabilizing.”

  Kael didn’t answer.

  But the shadow beneath him tightened further.

  Riven grinned.

  “Well that’s new.”

  Aurelion stepped forward again.

  Now the formation shifted.

  Kael anchored the center.

  Aurelion moved along the right flank.

  Riven pressed aggressively from the left with the spear.

  Corin called movements from behind them.

  “Left!”

  Kael intercepted the next strike with the staff.

  “Step in!”

  Riven thrust the spear forward.

  Draven blocked.

  “High!”

  Aurelion’s blade descended from above.

  The three attacks overlapped.

  For the first time since the battle began—

  Draven had to retreat.

  Only one step.

  But it was enough.

  Riven laughed breathlessly.

  “Oh, we’re learning.”

  Draven studied them quietly.

  Then lifted the halberd again.

  This time the weapon began to change.

  Thin strands of Thread energy crawled along the length of the blade.

  Dark lines of power wrapped around the metal like living wire.

  The halberd hummed.

  Corin’s eyes widened slightly.

  “He’s escalating.”

  Draven stepped forward again.

  The halberd swung downward.

  Kael intercepted the strike with his staff.

  But this time the impact blasted a shockwave across the ridge.

  The ground fractured violently beneath them.

  Riven staggered back.

  Aurelion slid sideways to avoid the follow-up strike.

  But the crew didn’t collapse.

  They adapted.

  Kael spun the staff and drove it forward.

  The weapon slammed into the halberd shaft and knocked it off-line.

  The sudden opening gave Aurelion a chance.

  His sword flashed toward Draven’s neck.

  Draven twisted sideways just in time.

  The blade sliced across the side of his armor and drew a line of blood across his ribs.

  Draven stepped back again.

  Breathing slightly heavier now.

  Blood slid slowly down his side.

  Riven spun the spear once.

  “Well look at that,” he said.

  “You bleed.”

  Draven didn’t answer.

  His grip tightened around the halberd.

  Across the ridge—

  Kael stepped forward again.

  The shadow beneath him compressed tighter.

  Focused.

  Controlled.

  The battle had changed.

  The Executioner was no longer dismantling them.

  Now—

  He was fighting to survive.