Noel forced himself up.
Stone grated against his palms as he pushed, and his ribs answered immediately, a deep, ugly ache that didn't feel like a bruise anymore. It felt like something inside him had shifted the wrong way and refused to settle back. He swallowed hard, tasting iron again, and for a second his vision pulsed in and out with his heartbeat.
'Move,' he told himself. 'If you stay down, you're done.'
His legs obeyed late, trembling under his weight as he rose into a half-stance with Revenant Fang dragging up after him. The sword felt heavier than it should have, like the island itself was pressing down on his wrists. Shadows clung to the blade anyway, stubborn and thin, responding to a will that was starting to lag behind his body.
Across from him, the Second Pillar didn't rush.
