Abe staggered backward, his body trembling in fear, abyssal energy emitting from his skin as he tried to use it to escape the repression coming off of Kain.
This was his trump-card, an ability perhaps derived from the demigod that gave him this core, that would allow him to teleport using shadows. It had never failed before...until now.
Kain's whole body, head now reattached, stood still with his head lowered. A faint violet light flickered from his eyes and from the thin lines running across his skin like lines where his body was stitched back together.
Then, slowly, Kain moved toward Abe.
The motion wasn't deliberate. His body moved on instinct—no, not instinct, something deeper. The Source energy within him stirred like a living will, ancient and hungry. He felt it pressing outward, expanding beyond his control, as if the reconstruction had awakened a primal reflex he'd never known existed.
