The lead Warden's jaw clenched behind his iron mask, his pride roaring back over his shock. "A beast's leash does not make you a master! Swarm him! Tear the dragon from his soul!"
The lead Warden charged.
He crossed thirty paces in a single, explosive leap, the basalt shattering beneath his heels as he brought the colossal halberd down in an executioner's arc, the white-hot spiritual blade screaming as it split the air above Jack's skull.
Jack didn't draw a weapon. He didn't blink.
He raised his bare left arm directly into the path of the falling polearm.
The impact sounded like a cathedral bell struck by a battering ram. The concentrated spiritual fire detonated in an outward ring of destructive heat, scorching the stone for twenty meters around them.
Jack didn't yield an inch.
