Down below, Thar'Zul-Vekar continued to anchor the battlefield with sprawling roots of living light. They surged upward like luminous veins, intercepting falling debris before it could reach the ground, crushing and dissolving shattered fragments of sky into harmless sparks.
The defense held steady. More than that, it felt easier than expected.
At the beginning, Thar'Zul-Vekar had prepared for an endless rain of destruction. The battle above had promised catastrophe without pause.
Yet as time passed, the debris thinned. The roots still moved constantly but the strain never reached the burden they had anticipated.
Something had changed in the clash above. The violence had not lessened, but it had changed. The battle had become different now.
Upon a broad platform woven from those same light roots, Erend lay resting while Aurdis worked tirelessly to heal him.
