The first tendril struck like a falling tower.
Xander moved a single step.
The ground beneath his feet shattered outward as the strike missed him by inches, the impact blasting a crater large enough to swallow a house. Several other tendrils followed instantly, ripping through the air like living harpoons, each one covered in blinking eyes that twisted toward him with hateful awareness.
He slipped between them. Every movement seemed already decided before the attack even finished forming.
One tendril lunged for his chest. Xander raised a single hand.
Purple-black energy erupted from his palm.
"Break."
The tendril disintegrated mid-strike. It didn't burn or explode, it simply collapsed into drifting ash, as if the concept of its existence had been rejected.
The creature screamed. The sound scraped across the mind like rusted metal dragged across bone. Behind the barrier, the soldiers recoiled even though they could no longer feel its full presence.
