Her lips peeled back into a razor smile behind her mask, eyes flashing bright with wild delight. 'Master was right.'
She didn't have to win the tug-of-war. She only had to play her part.
The moment before the guard's boots touched the ground, Blossom's free hand slashed across the air. Her magic roared in answer.
"[Veil of the Hollow]!"
An eruption of void-smoke poured around them. It was dense, suffocating, clinging like tar. It rolled out in an oily cloud, swallowing both Blossom and her captor whole. The world vanished into pitch black. Sight fractured into uselessness; every sense of theirs was clawed at by the distortion the smoke carried.
The royal guard reacted instantly. Using the hold on her ankle, she wrenched Blossom down. There was no hesitation, no panic. This was a professional. She pinned the dogkin's arms tight so that she couldn't cast again, then readied herself to lunge out of the radius the instant her boots found purchase.
Only… her boots never met stone.
