The princess charged in to support him, her hands weaving through the air as she summoned radiant streaks of light, condensing them into spears of pure energy that she launched toward the old man.
But he was faster....so much faster. With one sweeping motion, he dissipated the attack like mist and spun into a brutal kick that landed squarely against her side. The blow lifted her off her feet and flung her across the temple, her body slamming into a fractured wall that crumbled around her as she collapsed into the rubble.
Nyx didn't rise.
Dust and smoke blanketed the temple as Lucas staggered forward, coughing, blood on his lips, his limbs trembling. The sacred temple was no more. It had become a battleground, a shattered echo of what it once was. Stained glass lay in splinters beneath their feet, the altar cracked and ruined, sacred carvings scorched into fading embers.
