The air thickened with dust and the acrid smell of burnt earth.
Smoke spread from the blast zone where, just seconds before, Kade's hired companions had stood. Now, only empty space remained.
Kade coughed, a dry, hacking sound that sounded through the sudden silence. His composure, before a mask of absolute control, cracked like shattered glass. He spun around, eyes wide with fury and dawning humiliation. He saw the scorched ground, the splintered trees, the complete absence of his team.
"Runes…?" he muttered, the word spat through gritted teeth.
The capture point was a lie. The tree was an illusion. The entire encounter had been a stage, and he had walked right to the center of it.
He snapped his head back toward where Ronan had knelt to "tie his shoes."
But Ronan was already gone.
Kade turned around too late.
A blur of motion from his left. Ronan lunged from the side, a perfectly timed strike that bypassed Kade's front-facing stance.
