Something inside Teclos twisted violently.
It was not only the pain still pulsing through every blackened vein, or the agony scraping through his lungs with each shallow breath. For one brief moment, hatred resurfaced—burning hotter than all of it combined.
The moment he understood that Axel had truly left, his emotions nearly spiraled out of control again.
His vision darkened at the edges. Rage crawled through him like fire, tangled with grief, fear, and the helplessness of being unable to move even a single finger. After everything that had happened, Axel—the one person in that tunnel who could have ended the nightmare—had chosen to abandon them.
Teclos did not notice it at all.
But Ba'hraka had moved.
The pressure grew heavier, as if a mountain had drawn a blade and pointed it down upon them. Dust trembled over the ground. Loose stones rolled away from the orc's feet. Toby and the others sucked in a sharp, terrified breath.
Then Teclos saw the shadow.
