- Selene POV -
The silence after the collapse was heavy.
Dust still drifted in the air like ash, and the shattered ceiling above let in faint streaks of crimson light from the burning sky. The sound of battle in the distance was only a dull echo now — muffled, far away.
Selene pressed her hand against the cracked floor, pushing herself up. Her clothes were torn, streaked with dirt and frost. Beside her, ice spread naturally from her body — every exhale misted into a thin cloud of cold.
She looked around quickly. "Noir…?"
From the shadow of a fallen pillar, two glowing violet eyes opened. Noir emerged in her smaller form first, fur dark as smoke, before shifting — her body expanding, tendons cracking, until she stood taller than Selene, a towering figure of living shadow and faint purple embers.
"I'm fine," Noir said, voice low and resonant. "But she's here."
Selene followed her gaze.
