White metal reached Jiang's new feathers before anyone on either side agreed how to move it.
Its upper point brushed his back. Heat ran along the black contour field without finding skin, while the lower blade pressed white light through the sparse hollow at his breast.
Jiang flattened until stone held his belly.
There was no room left to become smaller.
Beyond him, the diver pulled through the scar. Hest's bar pushed from beneath. Bellwyrm leaned against living tissue, and Valea kept her blade away from a cut she could not take back.
Direct-current sensitivity stripped all of that down to pressure.
A narrow force withdrew beyond the tooth. Something blunt held the upper surface. A large body compressed water from below. Each source changed the gap, but none arrived with a face or intention.
Jiang waited for them to disagree.
Behind the diver, the black cord tightened.
