Leon slowly stood, lifting Elise's body with reverent care. He laid her down on stone that had been cracked by their fall, arranging her arms across her chest like she was resting rather than dead.
The destroyer of worlds watched this display with something approaching amusement. "Still performing meaningless rituals. Your species never learns."
"You're wrong."
Leon's silhouette sharpened in the dust-filled air. His spine locked straight with purpose that transcended grief. The healing magic Elise had died to give him pulsed through his system like a second heartbeat.
"Love doesn't weaken us." He turned to face the commander fully. "It makes us dangerous."
Shadow-edge reformed in his hand, but this time the blade carried quiet fury instead of desperation. Death energy flowed along its edge while life force created patterns of light that shouldn't exist in necromantic magic.
