The clash from the previous strike had not fully faded.

  Dust still drifted across the fractured ridge where Kael’s staff had intercepted Draven’s halberd. The ground beneath them looked less like a battlefield now and more like a shattered plate—splits running through the stone, dirt thrown outward in uneven rings from repeated impacts.

  Kael slid back half a step as the pressure from the halberd eased.

  Across from him, Draven did not immediately continue the attack.

  Instead, the Executioner stood still.

  His eyes moved once across the ridge.

  Aurelion.

  Riven.

  Corin.

  Then Erythea.

  He spoke quietly, as if confirming a calculation.

  “Remove the strategist.”

  The halberd lifted slightly.

  “Collapse the formation.”

  Riven groaned.

  “Oh good,” he muttered. “He’s narrating now.”

  Corin didn’t respond.

  His eyes had already shifted.

  Tracking the movement.

  Understanding the shift before it fully happened.

  “He’s changing focus.”

  Kael felt it too.

  Draven wasn’t looking at him anymore.

  He was looking past him.

  Toward Erythea.

  Draven moved again.

  But this time the halberd didn’t come straight for Kael.

  Instead the blade swept outward in a massive horizontal arc.

  Kael jumped back instinctively.

  The strike didn’t pursue him.

  It drove him sideways.

  Forcing him away from the center of the ridge.

  Aurelion stepped forward to intercept.

  Steel met steel again.

  The impact echoed through the valley.

  But Draven didn’t stay locked.

  The halberd twisted sharply and shoved Aurelion off line before he could stabilize.

  Then Draven stepped forward.

  Closer to Erythea.

  Riven swore.

  “Oh, no you don’t.”

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  He lunged.

  His dagger flashed toward Draven’s side.

  Draven didn’t even look.

  The halberd shaft rotated backward once.

  The wooden pole slammed into Riven’s wrist.

  The dagger flew from his hand.

  The follow-up kick sent him sliding across the ridge again.

  Riven rolled to a stop beside Corin.

  “…Okay,” he coughed.

  “That one hurt.”

  Corin grabbed his shoulder and pulled him upright.

  “He’s funneling us.”

  Riven blinked.

  “What?”

  Corin pointed toward the battlefield.

  Draven’s movements were deliberate.

  Every strike pushed them away from Erythea.

  Not killing blows.

  Not reckless attacks.

  Positioning.

  “He’s separating us,” Corin said quietly.

  Erythea stood where she had been.

  Her spear remained lowered.

  She had not stepped forward.

  Not once.

  But her eyes followed every motion on the battlefield.

  “Left.”

  Kael moved instantly.

  The halberd that would have shattered his ribs instead scraped along the edge of his staff.

  “High guard.”

  Aurelion lifted his blade.

  The next strike glanced harmlessly upward.

  “Pivot.”

  Kael stepped sideways.

  The blade slammed into the dirt where he had been standing.

  Each command came calmly.

  No urgency.

  No panic.

  Just precise observation.

  The rhythm of the battle shifted again.

  Draven attacked.

  Erythea spoke.

  Kael and Aurelion moved.

  The halberd’s strikes kept missing their intended targets by inches.

  Draven paused again.

  Just long enough to confirm what he had already suspected.

  His gaze shifted toward Erythea.

  She met his eyes without flinching.

  Riven leaned toward Corin.

  “…Yeah, he figured it out.”

  Corin nodded grimly.

  “Too late.”

  Draven moved faster this time.

  The halberd thrust forward like a spear aimed directly toward Erythea’s chest.

  Aurelion intercepted it mid-strike.

  The collision drove him backward across the ridge.

  His wings struck the ground hard as he slid.

  Draven advanced again.

  Kael stepped in front of Erythea.

  The staff spun upward.

  The halberd collided with it in a violent crack.

  Kael’s arms shook under the weight of the blow.

  The shadow beneath him compressed violently.

  The ground fractured under his boots.

  Draven twisted the halberd sharply.

  Kael barely kept the staff from slipping from his grip.

  The force shoved him backward several feet.

  Draven continued forward.

  Relentless.

  Aurelion recovered and rejoined the fight from the side.

  His sword struck toward Draven’s shoulder.

  Draven rotated the halberd shaft to block.

  The weapons locked.

  Kael stepped back in.

  The staff cracked against the halberd again.

  But Draven didn’t stay engaged.

  He broke contact instantly.

  Then attacked again.

  And again.

  Every strike pushed Kael and Aurelion farther away.

  Always toward the edges of the ridge.

  Never toward Erythea.

  Riven saw it clearly now.

  “He’s not trying to beat us.”

  Corin finished the thought quietly.

  “He’s dismantling us.”

  The halberd slammed into the ground again.

  A shockwave blasted across the ridge.

  Riven and Corin were thrown backward once more.

  Dust exploded into the air.

  Kael staggered under the pressure.

  The shadow around him trembled.

  Unstable.

  He forced it tighter.

  Gravity.

  Not force.

  Draven stepped forward through the settling dust.

  His eyes moved once across the battlefield.

  Measuring positions.

  Confirming distances.

  Then he spoke quietly.

  “Yes.”

  The word wasn’t directed at anyone.

  It was simply confirmation.

  He had found the weak point.

  The halberd lifted again.

  This time the blade pointed directly toward Erythea.

  “Your death,” Draven said calmly,

  “will end this.”

  Kael stepped forward immediately.

  The staff came up across his body.

  The shadow beneath him compressed violently.

  Aurelion moved beside him again.

  Sword raised.

  But even Kael could feel it now.

  The pressure of the fight had shifted.

  Draven wasn’t trying to defeat them.

  He was working through them.

  One piece at a time.

  And the moment Kael failed to block—

  Even once—

  The fight would end.

  Draven stepped forward again.

  The halberd began to descend.

  And the ridge held its breath.