"Ugly glass rat," Asher muttered, then slashed at empty-looking space.
His blade struck hide.
The Glassmaw shrieked, the sound thin and scraping, and its outline flashed into visibility as blood like dull crystal dust scattered across the leaves. It did not die. It recoiled, then tried to fold back into the light-shattered shade.
Asher stepped after it, then stopped when the visible bait lunged toward the anchor instead of him.
"Center," Liam said.
"I see it."
Asher pivoted and met the baiting Glassmaw with a downward strike wreathed in compressed blue heat. The creature pulled back before the blade landed, but the flame kissed the side of its head and forced its camouflage to ripple badly. Its jaw plates opened too wide, serrated edges glinting, and it snapped at Asher's leg.
