"Can you stop it?" Elara asked.
Nyxa shook her head. "No. But I can make it choke."
She pressed her palm to the ground.
The shadows didn't surge. They sank.
A low vibration rippled outward, barely visible, but the fog hesitated as if it had run into something it didn't expect. Creatures inside it slowed, their movements dragging like they were wading through deep water.
"Now, You did really good. Thanks for that." Ilyas snapped.
"It's okay." Nyxa replied.
Then they moved.
★★★
Somewhere east, near Solara's broken farmlands
Captain Tayuko stood knee-deep in mud and ash, fire curling off his shoulders in short bursts instead of waves. He'd learned the hard way that constant burn fed the fog strange reactions.
"Left side's thinning!" someone yelled.
"Good," Tayuko said. "Means it's lying to us. Don't chase it."
A massive shape pushed through anyway—six-limbed, skin like wet stone.
