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The ramp at the base of the tower felt impossibly wide and impossibly narrow at the same time, a vast stretch of black stone sloping upward into shadow while the space around them seemed to close in with every slow, deliberate step the demon took toward them.
Atlas felt the tremor in his knees before he realized it was fear and not exhaustion, his hand pressed hard against the gash in his side where warm blood continued to seep through his fingers no matter how tightly he clenched his jaw, the world tilting slightly each time his weight shifted. His breath came shallow and sharp, every inhale reminding him that something inside him was torn worse than he wanted to admit.
Seris lay on the stone a few feet away, propped awkwardly on one elbow, crimson streaking down the side of her face and matting her hair, her eyes unfocused yet stubbornly open as if refusing to give the ground the satisfaction of claiming her. Lorian stood frozen near the wall, half-hidden by instinct rather than resonance, his mouth open and his thoughts very clearly nowhere useful. Garruk, infuriatingly, stared upward at the sky, as though the massive tower and the approaching demon were merely weather patterns he was deciding whether or not to care about.
The demon's boots echoed softly as he descended the ramp, his long pale form framed by the red-lit architecture behind him, his armor dark and scored, his gray fur cloak swaying lazily with each step. His horns curved back elegantly from his skull, smooth and polished, his eyes dark and amused, his mouth curled into a thin, knowing smile.
When he spoke, his voice slid across the air like dry ash over embers, low and rasping, yet somehow powerful enough to make Atlas's skin crawl.
"My name is Calik," the demon said, tilting his head slightly as if greeting acquaintances rather than cornered intruders. "Come quietly, and I will not have to kill you immediately."
Ako snarled.
It was not a sound of fear or hesitation, but something feral and furious, and before Atlas could even form the word wait, she was already moving, dropping to all fours and launching herself forward with terrifying speed.
"No!" Atlas shouted hoarsely. "You idiot—!"
Ako hit Calik like a living blade, her claws flashing as she slashed upward and across, aiming for throat, chest, eyes, anything vital, her movements fluid and brutal, every strike driven by muscle memory and rage. Calik merely laughed softly as he raised his own long, thin claws, deflecting her attacks with minimal effort, sparks skittering across stone as their limbs collided.
"Oh, that was a good feint," Calik murmured as he twisted aside, his claws catching her wrist just long enough to redirect her momentum. "Sloppy follow-through, though."
"Go choke on a horn!" Ako snapped as she spun and swiped again, narrowly missing his face.
Atlas forced himself upright, pain screaming through his side as Seris suddenly grabbed his arm, her grip weak but desperate.
"No," she rasped, her voice cracked and wet. "You're hurt. You could die."
Atlas clenched his teeth and tore his gaze from the fight long enough to meet her eyes.
"Like I give a damn," he growled, trying to pull free.
Seris tightened her fingers, shaking. "I do."
Behind them, Lorian watched with wide eyes, his thoughts screaming to disappear, to hide, to do anything other than stand there watching his friends get torn apart. Garruk's head finally tilted downward, his attention at last drawn to the clash.
Atlas shoved Seris's hand away and took a step forward, only for his legs to betray him entirely. He dropped hard to his knees, coughing violently as blood splattered the stone beneath him, his vision blurring.
He looked up just in time to see Ako mid-leap, her body twisting to strike again.
Calik moved.
It happened too fast for Atlas to follow, too fast for thought or warning. Calik's claws flashed once, a thin silver arc through the air, and Ako's body jerked violently as blood sprayed outward in a red fan. She hit the ground hard, skidding across the stone, her back torn open, her breath stolen completely as she lay still.
For a single, horrifying moment, there was no sound.
Garruk turned.
Something in his expression changed, the lazy calm vanishing as his eyes widened, his breath hitching sharply in his chest. His gaze locked onto Ako's small, unmoving form, and the world seemed to fracture around him.
For an instant, he was not there.
He was somewhere else, standing in a ruined desert town nestled among mountains, the air filled with sand and smoke, giant-blood bodies surrounding him. He looked down at his hands, slick with blood that was not entirely his own, and saw a young giant-blood girl collapsed at his feet, her orange skin paling as the cold claimed her, her eyes staring at nothing.
Then the image shattered.
Garruk's breathing turned ragged, heavy, a low growl building in his chest until it exploded outward as a roar that shook the ramp itself. He charged.
Calik barely had time to look up.
"Oh—" the demon began.
BANG.
Garruk's fist collided with Calik's face with the force of a siege weapon, sending him flying backward through the air, crashing through buildings in a violent cascade of stone and dust. The shockwave rippled outward, rattling windows and shaking the tower itself.
Lorian swallowed hard. "Damn, big guy…"
Garruk crossed the distance to Ako in seconds, scooping her up effortlessly and slinging her over his shoulder. She coughed weakly, blood staining his armor.
"Oh thank the gods," Seris wheezed. "She's alive."
Atlas forced himself to stand, swaying dangerously. "We gotta go," he said urgently. "Call your dragon. Now."
Seris nodded, struggling to her feet. Atlas turned sharply toward Lorian. "Make yourself useful. Carry her."
Lorian jolted as if struck by lightning. "Oh. Yeah. Of course." He hurried over, lifting Seris carefully into his arms. "You're gonna be okay, beautiful."
"Shut up," Seris muttered, though it turned into a wheeze halfway through.
She raised two fingers to her mouth and whistled sharply.
Nothing answered.
"Shit," she breathed. "We have to get higher."
Lorian frowned. "Where can we even—" His gaze followed theirs up the tower. "Oh no... We're not going back there—"
Garruk did not wait for agreement.
With the Deathforged slung across his massive shoulders, he began climbing the tower, launching himself upward in thunderous bounds, forty feet at a time, stone cracking beneath his grip as he hauled them higher and higher into the sky. The tower loomed endlessly above them, a thousand feet of black stone clawing at the heavens.
By the time they reached the top, Atlas's vision swam, his body screaming for rest he could not afford. Seris slid off Garruk's shoulder and whistled again, louder this time.
"Now we wait," she said grimly.
They barely had time to breathe.
"Look out!" Ako shouted.
BOOM.
The world went white.