The impact rattled Kazi's bones.
She hit the ground hard, dust and shattered stone kicking up around her as she struggled to draw a breath. The air in the fracture pocket felt heavier now, weighed down by the sheer force of Luma's corrupted presence.
Above her, Luma hovered midair, framed by swirling mist and violet lightning, her body pulsing with twisted resonance energy. Her broken Mark seethed across her skin, feeding her with raw, unstable power that radiated heat and cold at the same time.
Kazi staggered to her feet, coughing, her vision blurring at the edges.
Luma didn't wait for her to gather herself. With a crackle of energy, she shot downward.
Kazi barely rolled aside before a blast of fracture energy slammed into the stone where she'd been standing, shattering the ledge into jagged shards. The ground quaked under the force.
Dakarai was already moving.
He unleashed a spear of lightning from his palm, aiming straight at Luma's side. The bolt lanced through the mist, cutting the space between them.
Luma twisted midair, the violet energy coiling around her like a second skin. She caught the lightning strike with one hand, absorbing the impact, and hurled it back at Dakarai with double the force.
"Dodge it!" Kazi shouted.
Dakarai dove sideways, the redirected bolt slamming into the stone behind him and exploding in a burst of shattered rock.
Luma flew down and landed with a graceful step, her feet barely touching the ground. The mist pooled around her ankles like obedient servants. Her gaze was locked onto Kazi, cold, determined and unyielding.
"She's not holding back!" Dakarai shouted, scrambling back to Kazi's side.
"No," Kazi said, grimacing. "She's hunting."
Luma moved again, fast as a flash of lightning.
In an instant, she was upon them.
Kazi reacted on instinct, igniting a shield of flame in front of her. The fire roared to life, a wall of heat and light that met Luma's charge head-on.
The collision shook the ground.
Luma's attack smashed into the fire barrier, sending shockwaves in every direction. The mist sizzled where it touched the flames, twisting violently in protest.
Kazi braced herself, pushing back with everything she had.
Then Dakarai stepped in.
He planted his feet beside her, thrusting both hands forward, and a blast of lightning surged into the wall of flame.
Fire and lightning merged, a crackling inferno of raw power.
The combination struck Luma full force, blasting her backward across the fractured platform.
For a moment, Kazi dared to hope that they could do this, that they could win.
But Luma didn't fall.
She skidded to a stop midair, mist coiling up around her body, cushioning her. Her fractured Mark blazed violently, brighter, the cracks across her body widening.
And then she smiled.
The mist around her condensed into jagged shards, a dozen weapons forming at once, spears, blades, and whips of energy, all aiming directly at them.
"She's adapting!" Dakarai yelled.
Kazi's mind raced. They couldn't match her strength alone. They had to outmaneuver her. They had trained for this, combining their elements, they just had to survive long enough to pull it off.
"Let's work together!" Kazi shouted.
Dakarai nodded instantly.
Kazi ignited a pulse of fire at her feet, launching herself upward in a spiral of heat. At the same time, Dakarai raised both arms to the sky, gathering a storm of lightning into a swirling orb above them.
As Kazi spun upward, the fire trailed her, forming a blazing vortex.
Dakarai hurled the lightning into the center of the fire spiral, and the whole thing exploded outward in a brilliant, burning cyclone.
The force of it slammed into Luma's attack, scattering her mist-forged weapons and forcing her to shield herself.
Kazi landed hard beside Dakarai, both breathing heavily, feeling the drain of energy already taking its toll.
For a second, there was only the crackle of fading energy.
But, Luma emerged from the smoke, her fractured body steaming but otherwise unharmed.
She looked almost... excited.
Without warning, she unleashed a shockwave of pure resonance energy.
The ground split apart, fractures racing across the stone like spiderwebs. Kazi and Dakarai were thrown apart, tumbling across the crumbling terrain.
Kazi rolled to her knees, spitting blood.
She looked up and saw Luma descending toward her like a falling star, her body wreathed in crackling violet flame.
Kazi barely got her arms up before Luma struck.
The impact drove her backward, her boots scraping trails through the stone. She could feel the power behind every blow; relentless, merciless. Luma's strikes came fast, a blinding flurry of fists, kicks, and resonance-charged slashes.
Kazi successfully defended against the first punch, followed by the second. However, the third punch breached her defense and struck her ribs forcefully.
A sharp pain shot through her side.
She stumbled, at which point Luma seized the opportunity to capitalize on her advantage.
From the corner of her eye, Kazi saw Dakarai trying to recover, lightning flickering weakly around his hands. But he was too far away to reach her in time.
Another blast sent Kazi sprawling onto her back.
Luma stood over her, violet energy gathering at her fingertips, coiling into a spear.
This was it.
Kazi braced herself—
A bolt of lightning ripped through the air, striking Luma's side.
Dakarai had charged forward, shouting, driving a barrage of lightning bolts into Luma's body. The energy made her stumble, her spear flickering, unstable.
Kazi seized the moment.
She pushed up onto one knee, gathering the ember in her hands, and hurled a burst of concentrated flame into Luma's chest.
The double strike knocked Luma back, but not down.
She slid across the ground, landing in a crouch.
She wiped blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, and for the first time, Kazi saw it, genuine rage flashing across Luma's fractured face.
Without a word, Luma slammed her palms against the ground.
The entire platform shuddered violently, the stone cracking open in deep fault lines.
Mist poured from the wounds in the ground, and with it came more figures, twisted echoes born from the fracture.
Kazi and Dakarai staggered back, weapons raised.
"We can't take them all!" Dakarai shouted.
"We don't have to!" Kazi replied. "We just need to survive!"
But it was already too late.
Luma moved with blinding speed.
She was faster than before, faster than either of them could react.
She struck Dakarai first, a whip of fracture energy wrapping around his legs and yanking him off his feet. He slammed into the stone with a grunt, sparks flying from his mark.
Before Kazi could help him, Luma was there, striking her hard across her face.
White-hot pain burst across her vision. She fell to one knee, dazed.
Luma stood over her, breathing heavily, mist writhing around her like living chains.
And without a word, she turned and vanished into the swirling mist.
The echoes followed her, leaving silence in their wake.
Kazi knelt there, gasping, too weak to chase her.
Dakarai groaned nearby, trying to sit up.
And from the shadows, a new figure stepped forward.
Rhazir.
He knelt beside Kazi, placing a steady hand on her shoulder.
"You did well," he said softly.
Kazi blinked up at him, confusion clouding her battered mind.
Rhazir's shadow moved strangely, rippling outward.
And then another Rhazir stepped out of the darkness, perfectly identical, moving to help Dakarai.
Kazi stared, realizing he could create copies of himself. Shadow clones.
Rhazir's calm smile lingered as he turned his gaze toward the mist where Luma had fled.
And for just a moment, Kazi saw pride flicker in his eyes.