Ty pulled the Pyromancer through the crack before Aldric could close it.
"Pyromancer Warlord, advance to C4 and drag the heat with you."
The bishop obeyed like a prisoner breaking a shackle.
Its free mace bit into the ice first. The chain followed, scraping blue shell from the square as the piece hauled its locked legs through the opening the Obsidian Sentinel had made. C4 took the bishop with a groan that traveled through the board and into Ty's wrist.
The ice around D3 snapped shut behind it.
Aldric had been one breath too late to seal it.
That mattered more than the move itself because timing had cost him.
The Pyromancer settled on C4 with one leg still crusted in frost and both shoulders burning. Heat rolled toward Aldric's quiet Blueblood Guard, the pawn that had been sitting near the side of the fight like a clerk waiting to become important.
Aldric noticed Ty noticing it and adjusted his hand.
"You should have pushed the bishop farther while the crack was open."
