[VOLUME 11: THE ETERNAL CHASE][LIFE: #48: FINALE][LOCATION: ROOF OF VANCE TOWER]
Time did not slow down. It stopped.
The golden spear, crackling with the energy of a thousand dead stars, did not hit Kaelen Thorne.
It hit Elara Vance.
She had moved faster than logic allowed. Faster than the Dao of the Zoom. She had moved with the speed of a soul that refused to let another person die for her.
THWACK.
The sound was sickeningly physical. Not a magical boom, but the wet, heavy sound of metal piercing flesh.
The spear struck Elara in the center of her chest. It didn't pass through; it lodged there, burning with a blinding white light.
"ELARA!"
Three voices screamed her name.
Aldren Vance dropped his blood shield, his face twisted in horror. Li Wusheng reached out, his wind wall shattering into breeze. Kaelen Thorne stood frozen, his eyes wide, reflecting the golden light of the spear that was meant for him.
Elara gasped. She looked down at the spear.
