Book 5: Chapter 14 — Mirage
Noah triggered Arcane Step, blinking across the chamber to intercept the male stalker before it could regroup with its mate. The spatial displacement deposited him directly in the creature's path, spear already sweeping in a horizontal arc.
The stalker was ready. It blinked away the instant Noah appeared, leaving only an afterimage that his spear passed through harmlessly. But Noah had anticipated that—he'd been watching its pattern, counting the seconds between spatial jumps.
"Chains!"
His Chains of Binding erupted from his left palm, the runic links screaming through the air faster than the stalker could react. They wrapped around the creature's hindquarters just as it materialized from its blink, anchoring it to the stone floor with glowing symbols of containment.
[Chains of Binding] has applied [Anchored] to [Mirage Stalker]
[Spatial Blink] suppressed for 8 seconds
The stalker thrashed, claws gouging the ancient stone, but the chains held. Its afterimage ability kicked into overdrive—suddenly there were twenty copies of the creature, all struggling against phantom chains, all screaming in identical fury.
But only one of them bled. Only one of them had a life-force signature. Only one of them mattered.
Noah drove his spear down into the real stalker's spine.