The hall stayed quiet long after Grimbane took his place in the line.
Kaldrek broke it first. He shoved out of the ranks with embers falling off his shoulders, and the stone scorched black beneath every step.
Dull red light glowed in the cracks between his plates, and heat rolled off his body in thick waves that bent the air around him.
"Grimbane has gone soft," Kaldrek said, flexing his molten fists. "I will melt this mortal down to nothing."
Arthur said nothing. His hands rested behind his back, and he watched Kaldrek's chest.
Kaldrek struck first. He slammed both fists into the floor, and the stone liquefied in a rushing ring that surged toward Arthur's feet.
*Hiss!*
Arthur stepped onto the cooling crust of the wave and let it carry him forward. Molten rock splashed up around his ankles and found nothing to burn.
A second wave came, and he stepped over it. A third came, and he slid around it, never once looking down.
