The battlefield had stopped making sense long before the monster fell.
Stone jutted from the ground at unnatural angles, cracked and blackened where spells had scorched it, slick with blood in places no one had time to look at too closely. The air tasted wrong—burnt mana, ozone, and something metallic that clung to the back of the throat. Kaden moved through it all with practiced ease, boots finding purchase where others slipped, blade carving clean lines through chaos that refused to settle.
The smaller creatures were already dying. They always were. He cut through them without slowing, each strike precise, economical, almost bored. His attention stayed on the massive shape at the center of the field—the real threat, the only one worth acknowledging. The monster's movements were heavy but adaptive, dark energy crawling along its limbs as it learned, adjusted, compensated.
Good, Kaden thought distantly. At least it's trying.
Behind him, the rest of the team struggled to keep up. He knew this without looking; he could hear it in the uneven rhythm of boots, in the hitching breaths that lagged half a second behind where they should have been. Daren was the loudest of them, his breathing harsh and wet, armor clanking where straps had loosened or broken. Liora's voice cut through the din in sharp bursts as she traced glowing runes in the air, each one flaring briefly before locking into place around the group like fragile scaffolding. Garric held the rear line, shield slamming into anything that slipped past, his stance widening more with each impact.
Kaden didn't slow.
"Move," he called without turning, pivoting to deflect a claw that would have torn through stone. "You're falling behind."
"I know," Daren answered, breathless but stubborn, forcing himself forward despite the blood soaking into his greaves. A tendril of dark energy clipped his shoulder, sending him staggering sideways. He caught himself on his sword, teeth clenched hard enough that Kaden heard them grind.
Kaden noticed.
He decided Daren's footwork was sloppy.
Liora's next spell came out strained, the runes flickering as they formed. "Kaden—slow down. He's hurt. I can't keep reinforcing him like this."
Kaden glanced back just long enough to register the tremor in her hands, the sweat running down her temple. The barrier around Daren wavered, then stabilized.
"Then stop wasting power on embellishment," Kaden said flatly. "Anchor it properly."
He surged forward again before she could respond, leaping onto a slab of broken stone and twisting midair, blade biting deep into the monster's scaled hide. Dark energy spilled out like smoke, hissing as it dissipated. The creature roared, the sound vibrating through the ground beneath their feet.
It was adapting faster now.
Good.
The fight dragged on, stretching past the point where it should have ended. The monster learned, compensated, shifted its weight and timing just enough to force constant adjustment. Kaden thrived in it, each exchange sharpening his focus, each near miss feeding the quiet certainty that this was where he belonged—at the edge, where hesitation got people killed.
Behind him, the others were fraying.
Daren stumbled again, this time catching a blow full across the thigh. The impact folded him, driving him to one knee with a sound halfway between a grunt and a gasp. Blood spread quickly, dark against torn armor. He tried to rise immediately, failed, and braced himself with his sword.
Kaden saw the opening the monster was angling toward.
He adjusted his path to intercept.
Garric's shout cut through the noise. "Watch the flank! You're leaving him exposed!"
Kaden's jaw tightened. "Hold the line," he snapped, striking upward to sever a massive claw inches from Garric's shield. "That's your job."
Another spell flared and died behind him. Liora swore under her breath. The healer—quiet until now—muttered a prayer Kaden didn't recognize, light gathering desperately around their hands as they moved closer to Daren.
The monster lunged.
Everything slowed, just enough for Kaden to see the angles. He could reach Daren. He could redirect the strike. But doing so would mean turning his back on the core, leaving Garric and Liora exposed for a heartbeat longer than was safe.
A heartbeat mattered.
He moved anyway.
Steel met flesh in a spray of dark energy, but the timing was off—just barely. The monster's secondary limb lashed out, slamming into Daren's side with a dull, sickening sound. Daren was thrown back, skidding across stone before coming to rest in a twisted heap.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Daren tried to breathe. Failed. Tried again. His chest rose unevenly, each breath shallower than the last.
Kaden registered the silence behind him, the way the battlefield seemed to recoil, waiting.
He turned back to the monster.
The fight ended shortly after that. Once Kaden committed fully, there was no stopping it. He dismantled the creature piece by piece, ignoring the burning in his muscles, the blood slicking his grip. When the final blow landed, the monster collapsed in on itself, its dark energy unraveling into the air like ash.
The sound it made when it hit the ground was disappointingly small.
Kaden stood at the center of the ruin, chest rising and falling steadily as the adrenaline faded. He wiped his blade clean and sheathed it, already cataloging the fight—what worked, what didn't, where the others had fallen behind.
Behind him, the healer knelt beside Daren.
Their light flickered.
Kaden noticed.
He told himself it was exhaustion.
Daren's eyes were open, unfocused, staring past Kaden at nothing. His lips moved, barely. No sound came out. His breathing hitched once, twice, and then stopped altogether.
The healer froze.
Liora's staff slipped from her fingers and clattered against stone. Garric lowered his shield slowly, as if the weight of it had finally caught up to him.
Kaden felt the shift again—not inside himself, but in the space around him. The way no one looked at him. The way no one spoke.
He frowned. "We're done here," he said, breaking the silence. "Secure the area. Then move."
No one argued.
That bothered him more than it should have.
He turned away first.
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(This is my first story in general... so tell me how y'all like it and what i can do better! I'll try posting weakly, if plans get in the way ill let you know down here. Future chapters will be much longer don't worry!)