"Ignis Nova!"
A surge of fire erupted outward.
A dome of heat expanded across the battlefield.
Fwoosh.
The flames collided with her earlier wind spell.
The two spells fused into a focused stream of roaring fire that shot straight at the swirling black mist.
The inferno wrapped around it.
Light and heat swallowed the shadow.
For a brief moment, the darkness writhed inside the firestorm.
It twisted and thrashed like something alive.
Then it moved.
From within the smoke, the Alpha's voice rumbled out, low and cold. "Too late."
Ben's stomach dropped.
The black mass lurched forward.
Its movement looked wrong and oily, like something that did not belong in the physical world.
A tendril of solid shadow suddenly burst from the mist.
It twisted in mid-air and lashed toward Elvira.
"Move!" Ben shouted.
Elvira jumped back.
The tendril missed her and slammed into the ground, carving deep, jagged cracks into the scorched earth.
The swirling smoke thickened.
