A black tide of shades filled the tunnel as they forced their way into the deep cavern, their bodies sliding over stone and squeezing through cracks as they swarmed. They tore into the stillborns in coordinated bursts, clawed hands ripping and dragging the creatures down as they advanced.
Damon's astral form drifted among them like a ghost carried by a storm. He glanced toward Matia. She met his eyes and pulled out a staff, planting its base firmly into the ground in front of him.
He stepped forward. His astral form reached out, the faint outline of a hand brushing the shaft of the staff. The moment contact was made, the weapon responded. All the devastating power it had stored since the last time he used it surged outward through his soul.
The entire cavern shuddered. Dust rained from the ceiling. A deafening boom erupted as black destructive flames shot forward, rolling through the chamber like a tidal wave of annihilation.
