She smashed through a wall, rebounded off a jagged pillar, and fell limply, but before she could crash into the stone ground, a blur of silver intercepted her.
Neal appeared and he caught her mid-air, flipping to absorb the impact, both of them skidding hard across the dust-blown field. His boots dragged deep trenches into the dirt before they finally stopped.
Sairi wheezed, clutching her ribs. Her lip was bleeding.
"Damn… bastard got me."
"You're lucky I was watching," Neal muttered, gently setting her down behind a collapsed wall.
Sairi leaned against a broken pillar, wiping blood from her lip. Neal crouched beside her, eyes fixed on the approaching monster. Its newly transformed, humanoid form moved with terrifying grace, every step felt like a drumbeat of doom.
"We can't beat this thing," Sairi muttered. "Not head-on. Not like this."
