The knight's body hit the ground with enough force to knock the air from his lungs and silence the courtyard for a single, precious second.
It was the only warning.
Damon's scream echoed like thunder between the mansion walls, laden with a fury too controlled to be empty.
For an instant, no one moved.
Then chaos erupted.
The escorting knights reacted instinctively—not as individuals, but as a unit trained to crush threats before they became real. Swords were drawn in sequence, spears lowered, shields raised. The metallic sound echoed like a war bell.
"Kill him!" someone shouted.
Thirty men advanced.
Damon did not retreat.
He swung his spear forcefully, the shaft describing a brutal arc that struck the jaw of the first attacker before his sword could even descend. The man was thrown aside, colliding with another knight and knocking them both down in a tangle of metal and screams.
