The cavern roared.
Stone split in jagged veins as if the earth itself shuddered at their meeting. Shadows lashed outward from Lindarion's blade, wild, hungry, clawing across the ground like a pack of wolves unleashed. The air twisted, torches shrieking as their flames went out one by one until only the pallid glow of Maeven's aura lit the chamber.
Maeven didn't flinch. He stepped into the storm like a man walking into rain. His cloak barely shifted. The pale fire bleeding from his body hissed where it touched the shadows, eating holes in the black tendrils.
The humans staggered under the pressure. Shields dropped, swords rattled in loose grips. Some fell to their knees, choking on the weight of power pressing them flat to the stone. Their screams blurred with the screech of mutants still surging around them, all reduced to background noise in the space between the two.
Maeven's smile widened.
"Good. At last you stop crawling."
