Atlas unsummoned his spear, and with it, Kaelzar's lifeless body collapsed onto the snow, no longer held up by the weapon that had impaled him.
He stood there, gasping for breath. His entire body screamed in exhaustion, his vision blurring at the edges. He was barely holding on to consciousness.
If the monster bird hadn't arrived in time, he might have lost consciousness before he could even land the final blow.
The sound of powerful wings beating still echoed in the air above him, but Atlas didn't even have the strength to lift his head and look. Instead, he saw its shadow. A dark figure circling over the white snow.
Kaelzar's body was already beginning to disappear beneath the steadily falling snow. The morning sun, now rising over the volcanic frozen island, cast a soft light over the battlefield, its warmth barely piercing through the cold.
Atlas took a step forward.
Then another.
