The battlefield lay in eerie silence, cloaked in the still-burning embers of Raven's last attack. A wasteland of melted stone, ash, and disintegrated nightmares stretched as far as the eye could see.
Nothing moved—except for the group closing in on the fallen warrior at its heart.
Raven lay unconscious in Clara's lap, his breaths shallow but steady. Steam curled from his skin like a kettle left on the flame too long.
"He's out cold," Clara murmured, brushing soot from his face with quiet tenderness.
Selena arrived next. Her blue eyes swept across the smoldering carnage before falling to Clara and Raven.
Her shadow slithered unnaturally beside her like a faithful hound, its toothy mouth occasionally twitching like it wanted to finish what Raven started.
"…He really pushed past his limits this time," she said softly, kneeling beside them.
Her shadow reached out protectively, wrapping slightly around Raven's feet like a territorial snake.
