The gravel baked black beneath Kikaru's boots.
She crossed the arena floor, the three radiant bands spinning around her wrists shedding sparks that scarred the stone. The ambient temperature in the pit skyrocketed. Elias forced himself up from the dirt, his breath tearing through his dry throat. The burn across his shoulder screamed with every fraction of movement, his fractured ribs grinding as he shifted his weight back.
He had no core energy left for a wall. He had no strength for a brawl.
Kikaru didn't give him time to find his footing. She swung her right arm in a brutal, sweeping arc. The golden bands unspooled, whipping outward like liquid fire.
Elias threw his weight sideways. He hit the ground hard, rolling across the coarse sand and broken glass as the superheated strike cleaved the air exactly where his chest had been. The thermal wash blistered the side of his neck.
"Dot," Elias grunted, his face pressed to the dirt. "Lattice. Angle it."
