Chapter 43: Black Abyss Sword Dao
The words had barely left Rowan's mouth when everything changed.
One moment, his father was looking at him with that strange, alien affection. The next, Rowan's arm blurred as he drew his sword in a single fluid motion.
Grim registered the movement too late. The blade flashed in the dim light, and searing pain exploded across the right side of his face. He staggered backward, blood streaming from a deep gash that ran from his temple down to his jawline.
The cut burned with something more than physical pain. Something dark and cold seemed to seep from it, spreading beneath his skin like poison. Black tendrils of energy traced the edges of the wound, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Before Grim could even call out Cassius's name...
The sound of crashing waves filled the corridor, and suddenly Cassius was there, materializing between Grim and his father. The air around the old man rippled like disturbed water, the aftereffect of movement too fast for the eye to follow.
"Get back," Cassius commanded, pushing Grim behind him with one arm while drawing his own blade with the other.
Rowan tilted his head and smiled. The expression was all wrong on his father's face, like a puppet's wooden grin.
"Who are you?" Cassius demanded, his stance wide and ready. "Release my son at once."
Rowan chuckled, the sound echoing strangely as if coming from somewhere deep and distant. As they watched, his features began to change. His ears elongated to sharp points, and his skin darkened to an ashen gray, faint red veins that pulsed beneath the surface.
"You don't recognize me, little pup?" Rowan's voice distorted, growing deeper and more resonant. "I'm hurt. But then again, we've never formally met, have we?"