The situation could have been worse.
Lukas held this assessment with the specific, honest quality of someone who has looked at the available accounting and has found, in the looking, that the accounting — while not comfortable — is not catastrophic. The Astral Bone Vanguard remained. Not Tommy's particular, colossal coverage, not the specific, Death-God-bloodline-enhanced combat presence that had been the reliable anchor of every serious engagement since the journey began, but coverage nonetheless — the particular, functional presence of a summon that had demonstrated its value across the week's consecutive encounters and had not yet been asked to absorb a Blood Infusion arrow at full velocity.
If push comes to shove, I can always take things into my own hands.
