Cel pushed himself up from the dirt outside the hut, pain radiating from his back where the impact had landed. His eyes strained against the darkness, searching for the shape that had hit him. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR5WPwJiwCx
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9bWuyfV1F
He couldn’t see it. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdnvvDxgwyP
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“Lior!” His voice came sharp and urgent. “Light!”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfE6ccnATo
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRV7D8gHQ6I
Silence stretched for a heartbeat. Then pale light bloomed inside the destroyed entrance.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjZkjgGFRN
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmTi1zlgxPI
Small. Barely enough to illuminate the space inside. A weak orb of moonlight hovering above Lior’s trembling palm, throwing shadows that danced and twisted with each flutter of his hand. But it was enough.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡndiW4RnIjb
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcn6Mg9tFJr
The creature stood revealed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsc34htWFV9
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjLhGOAUux
Massive. Bulky in ways that suggested raw physical power concentrated into meat and muscle. It stood on two legs like something pretending at humanity. Twice Lior’s height, maybe more. Its head encased in a grotesque helmet of natural armor, plates of bone or chitin layered so thick that no blade would find purchase there. The rest of its body lay bare in comparison. Skin stretched over corded muscle, no protection except its own density.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNXbMt3veC
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdulbsIIwvK
The thing turned its armored skull toward Lior. Started walking. Heavy footfalls that shook the floor with each step.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ31A9eeqLUs
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkuYgOnCb4
Cel moved.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DsKkrEEIV
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUirp128SQG
Not toward Silent Moon - no time to search for where it had fallen in the chaos. Just forward, launching himself back through the destroyed wall into the hut’s interior. His boots hit wood that protested under his weight, threatening to give.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSnOOarroX
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCLgwX33MX6
The creature took another step toward Lior, and something in the boy snapped.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSE59hHpkeT
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡet8O4O3CEp
A shriek tore out of him, high and ragged, nothing like a battle cry. The orb of light slipped from above his palm as his hand clenched around the dagger. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCf3R7jxGN1
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUiYPk0mC4p
Then he was moving. Charging at the creature with his dagger gripped in both hands, the blade pointed forward, moonlight catching on steel that looked far too small for what he faced. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYq2MJtIbt
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFyRCf8uRBp
The creature’s arm moved. Casual. Like swatting an insect that had gotten too close.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSw0M8qOQc0
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejcgocHxsz
The back of its massive hand caught Lior across his torso. The impact lifted him off his feet, sending him flying sideways.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gyzxqXDZL
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHFnFBxU6v
“Lior!” His mother’s scream tore through the space.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZL8OcT1jk
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHBiN2OFMU
Cel had barely finished his stride when Lior's body slammed into his chest. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ44UbdkbZu1
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXtVeLRUtSe
The collision knocked the air from Cel’s lungs. The boy’s body crashed into his chest, momentum transferring, both of them stumbling. Cel’s arms wrapped around Lior instinctively, catching him.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6x1BwcTHnB
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lZM7jv3yH
For a heartbeat they were tangled together. The moonlight orb flickered, threatening to die.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk288NOFz0S
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHpZ0mB9cY
Then sound exploded from ahead of them. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ULb9Y4e4t
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IAAsam57L
The creature had dropped. All fours now, massive body lowered close to the ground. Its armored head led the charge, a battering ram of bone and compressed violence launching forward with speed that shouldn’t be possible for something so large.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ13jPK7b3Hf
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksNQrhtNHz
Directly at them.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToR6zRMHeQ
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The distance vanished before Cel's mind caught up. His body moved first. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VJhNifrqL
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjBKcrKISE
He threw Lior left, hard, and lunged right. The creature thundered through the space between them, close enough that the air it displaced dragged at his clothes. The armored head missed him by perhaps a hand's width. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpM0lLx8dPz
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTX1ojwnqn4
The wall behind them exploded. Wood spraying outward as the creature crashed through, its charge carrying it outside. The hole it left was massive - big enough that moonlight spilled through, joining the weak glow from Lior’s still-active orb laying on the ground.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm23zUkCeEe
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3UmS9P92Au
Cel hit the floor rolling. Came up in a crouch, hands empty, Silent Moon still lost somewhere in the chaos. His heart hammered against his ribs hard enough to hurt.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSpGqrNInhE
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Silence.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEBWt2ZUIEA
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The creature was gone. Disappeared into the night beyond the new hole it had created.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhYQHKDIFvy
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZhcQvPT1k
Had it retreated? Found different prey among the village’s chaos?37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ271FDR2yiD
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuECKbdh3do
No. He couldn’t be sure of it. It could still be out there. Somewhere in the darkness. Preparing another charge from an angle they couldn’t predict.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0PMKubihhx
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5duBsHTCE
Cel's gaze darted across the room, eyes jumping from shadow to shadow, hunting for a shape, a movement, a sound, anything. But there was nothing.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUFc0DVuK88
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDOfKEAw5K
Lior lay where Cel had thrown him, curled on his side, one hand clutched to his ribs. His face was screwed up in pain, breath coming in short, wincing hisses. His mother knelt over him, hands hovering over his body as if she were afraid to touch him, her face a mask of worry and terror. Behind them, Lior's father stood with his back to the room's center, head jerking toward every creak of the wood, every whisper of wind through the broken walls.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj5ROVMopDp
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfzgJ9F2OR
"Everyone!" Cel's voice cracked out. "Form a circle!"37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2IA34Vpcu
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwiyn8SDQDw
They moved with the desperate speed of people who understood that hesitation meant death. Lior scrambled up from where Cel had thrown him, his dagger held in shaking hands.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuUjpf6H7FU
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHuRCfnD1Ah
His father abandoned his position near the doorway, moving to join them. His mother followed, her face stricken with terror but her body responding to the order.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTS3RKajCF
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRnt4RbSL4
They formed up in the room’s center. Lior’s mother pressed into the middle, her husband and son flanking her, Cel completing the formation. All of them facing outward, watching different directions, trying to cover the impossible task of defending against something that could come from anywhere.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57wXUgDo55
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83M1fIblu5
Cel’s breathing came too fast. His mind raced, searching for a hint, for some way to predict where the next attack would come from.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ958fQTr4P4
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDjKj1KP5R
If he only had divine energy... 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC0TGzmnuIJ
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDn7C6X8EV
Then he could feel the corrupted energy that marked the creature. Then he could track its position, know where it circled, anticipate the charge before it came.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoT4FAdy7QA
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrCvhbmrkC
But he had nothing. No sixth sense. No way to perceive what his body had been built upon.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEshTHiNg98
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjNPSbPPA7
Useless. The familiar bitter taste of inadequacy flooded his mouth. His dysfunction had never mattered more than right now, standing in a destroyed hut trying to protect people who couldn’t protect themselves. People he had come to care about. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxmNLbPxfPC
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIuiPAUnpE6
Wait.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2bwDK2OVR9
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1gfKeRvSp
He didn’t have divine energy. But Lior did.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMzz9l2NLm
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngYzWH71QD
“Lior.” Cel’s voice came urgent. “You need to track the creature’s corrupted energy.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCOLhB3S11
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEhkpqTiZ28
“What?” Lior’s response carried confusion and fear in equal measure. “I don’t—”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3AZvmOtIKC
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2YDrD74WMQ
“You can sense it. All Chosen can. Feel for the corruption and find it.”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaeHHejQdWX
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9n8pTMxAW
Lior’s eyes squeezed shut. His face twisted with concentration, the moonlight orb flickering as his focus divided between maintaining it and searching for something he’d never consciously tried to detect before.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DkAKVmmMz
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZv2hMzz3C
Each time the light guttered, Cel felt the faint strength in his limbs gutter along with it. It was a small thing, barely a pulse, but he noticed the difference. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ5qDov6cXu
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxBnrMYdx4a
Lunar Vigor. Was his trait reacting to Lior's moonlight? 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyeOylgIND
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeaCQky5g2s
Seconds stretched. Cel’s attention swept between the holes in the walls, searching for movement, for any sign of the attack he knew was coming.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzznfipSic6
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxTAq7AQSa
Lior’s eyes opened. “I can’t do it. I can’t feel anything except—”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBN1x3dhJ1n
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA0i8vkrdKf
“You can.” Desperation sharpened Cel’s tone. “Concentrate and—”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVPbu8B66L1
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlp0nUURfN1
The wall to their left exploded inward.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzaoRbPHEqF
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2lQhgCfHU
Wood erupting in a shower of splinters. The creature burst through, already charging, armored head lowered, massive body compressed into a living battering ram aimed directly at Cel.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJ4ccLrwAA
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No time.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ63JpJevO18
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Not even a heartbeat to process what was happening. Just the immediate understanding that if he moved - if he dodged left or right - the creature would plow straight into Lior and his family standing behind him.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIRM9eRg4k
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ56Lz0HHXRU
They wouldn’t be fast enough to react. Wouldn’t survive the impact.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsMQUSfVAcg
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS08NiB1p6B
Only one option existed.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gpxZ44KxD
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjm5NAiUgGK
Cel pulled his head back. Set his feet. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTFkcgrwYTw
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4VewQFxMOv
Then launched forward.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH0XJvlYyjf
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His forehead crashed into the creature’s armored skull.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpVJkeE9c4
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdixD556njx
Pain exploded through Cel’s head - white-hot and all-consuming, radiating from the point of collision outward in waves that threatened to black out his vision entirely. His skull felt like it had split open. Blood sprayed from his forehead, hot and immediate, sheeting down his face and into his eyes.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15TvVhTu7U
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkjgtGTleV
The world tilted. Spun. Refused to hold still or make sense.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡViIAGmerO3
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB34F8TkTqa
But the creature had stopped.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAB3LPL3H2
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRR4wT5EG3
The charge had been arrested mid-momentum, Cel’s enhanced body providing just enough durability to absorb the impact without his skull caving inward completely.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjwAgr897m
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7VcP3kHdE
The creature stood up. Rose to its full height on two legs, towering over Cel’s swaying form. Its massive arms came together overhead, hands clasped, forming a club of flesh and bone that blocked out what little light remained.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWR4wfGu78a
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Then it brought them down.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBhQ2MLJVQ
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhq4t18UkG
The double-handed strike caught Cel in his stomach. Force compressed his organs, drove air from his lungs in an explosive gasp. The floor beneath him gave way and he crashed through into the shallow space below. Blood surged up his throat and burst from his mouth in a hot, retching spray.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh7kR1n4cNK
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3elf9KHMJ
Lior’s father charged in from the side. The wooden stool raised overhead, face set with determination that bordered on madness. He brought it down on the creature’s bare back with everything he had.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4tmvvGq7KG
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ216BWxtUPO
The stool exploded. Shattered into pieces that scattered across the floor, achieving nothing except drawing the creature’s attention.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPsFDXib7jV
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1OlOAOmYlZ
Cel tried to move. But his body refused to cooperate. The dizziness was overwhelming - world spinning in directions that didn’t exist, floor and ceiling trading places. Everything felt distant. Disconnected.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmoJtB8c7Zk
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgvCYjizSv
The creature advanced on Lior’s father. Slow steps. Like it had all the time in the world to kill everyone in this room.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYWkg6JS8Sc
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOghtSb6lcZ
Cel’s thoughts spiraled. Fragmented. Tried to organize themselves into coherent order but kept sliding away.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7WkiKBRP36
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6WFq8TWQm
They were going to die. All of them. Lior and his parents, the family that had welcomed him with genuine warmth, the people who’d shown him what love looked like when it wasn’t twisted into weapons and shame. They were going to die because he couldn’t protect them.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jyBk3awgX
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5WvS1kZLA
‘No.’37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFgFmswGBQ
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsfsjI7HsED
The word crept through the wreckage of his thoughts like a stone breaking the surface of a flood. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSmnYEyWkAZ
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgu3uyNgbVv
‘Not like this. Not them.’ 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡayAxA9gbk4
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHXqelcdx8Z
His hand shot out. Desperate. Uncoordinated. Fingers closing around something solid - the creature’s bulky foot, planted on the floor as it advanced toward Lior’s father.37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZnqZ5wui0
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQme0sKlFG
Frost bloomed from Cel’s palm. Spread across skin with crystalline speed, racing along the creature’s foot while simultaneously freezing the floor beneath it. The cold burned through Cel’s hand - the familiar pain of his authority expressing itself - but he held on. Poured everything he had into the manifestation, freezing the creature’s foot to the ground beneath. 37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGUZnRSIcSO
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2HGXHhEYG5
“Only over my dead body!”37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh3zV1kEwiV
1234 copyright protection33ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHIrc8Fs1J 尼

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