Kael had a vile smile on his face.
It wasn't that of amusement, no, it was that petty, ugly kind that crawled up your throat when you finally got to choose who suffered. When you finally got to repay the universe a fraction of what it kept charging you.
With Presence active, he slipped between the members of the Snake Clan like a bad thought they couldn't quite shake. Their bodies were packed tight in the tunnel mouth, shoulders crashing, weapons clattering, boots scraping stone, yet none of them saw the blurred silhouette weaving through them, because none of them were looking for him.
They were looking behind.
A prehistoric thing the size of a metro train was coming up the slope as the world owed it blood.
And when fear has a grip on your spine, you don't notice the knife in your ribs. You notice the boulder rolling toward your head.
