Kharzun howled, a sound that made the frozen world feel briefly small.
"You cheat," he spat. "You dare desecrate a duel with a second Eternal?"
Astraea's voice carried laughter sharpened into blades.
"Cheat?" she asked. "You never spoke of fairness when you sieged humanity with legions of your kin."
She folded down from Roc into woman-shape, but the storm did not leave her.
Vaelcar's voice remained calm.
"You wanted an execution," he said to Kharzun. "Now you will receive a trial."
Kharzun's blood flared.
It rose out of the battlefield in threads and rivers.
The blood fed his remaining constructs.
The sealed cage containing the ten minis cracked open from within.
Blood scripts crawled over their basalt like living parasites.
The minis grew... into something more vicious.
They became almost alive. Their movements turned less predictable, more feral. Their mouths opened and miasma spilled out.
Astraea lifted a hand.
The Tempest Crown above her brow flared.
