Chapter 36: Dominion
The rings reached him all at once.
The spiraling energy compacted the space between them like a collapsing star, warping the air, pulling static from the ground, the sky, the crowd itself. The sound vanished. No impact. Just absence. Silence deep enough it swallowed the air in every lung.
Then—
Impact.
A spiraling detonation of light, wind, and force radiated out in a pillar of brilliance. The arena floor cracked beneath it. The reinforced dome shimmered as defense glyphs surged to life, blocking errant arcs of current from reaching the stands. The very sky above dimmed as arcs of storm-light raced across the shielded dome, clawing at the heavens.
Darius flinched in his seat, arm instinctively raised to block the light.
When it faded, Lucien was lying at the far edge of the circle.
His coat was torn from the left shoulder down. His arm hung limp, fingers twitching. One of the reflective stones embedded in the dueling platform had shattered beside him. The side of his face was scratched, bruised, covered in soot.
His eye—his eye—still flickered faintly, but the silver glow was dim. Unstable. Like a candle trying to survive a storm.
A voice rang out through the arena.
"Ten-count beginning."