The sheer size of the skeletal hand was paralyzing.
It smashed down onto the frozen moat with the force of a falling mountain, sending massive shards of jagged ice and boiling geothermal water flying into the dark sky. The monstrous fingers were made of hundreds of human skulls, fused together by a sickly, pulsing black magic.
The earth tore completely open. A towering, grotesque giant made entirely of writhing bones dragged itself out of the abyss. It had no face, only a hollow, cavernous ribcage that glowed with a terrifying, unnatural red light.
The blizzard around us whipped into a violent frenzy, the temperature dropping so fast my breath turned to sharp ice in my lungs.
"Akira!" I screamed, leaning so far over the stone parapet that Rin had to grab the back of my sash to keep me from falling.
Down on the shattered ice, Akira didn't run. He didn't even take a step back.
