The crack ca softly at first, so soft that Lucrezia almost thought she imagined it. It was like a thin, brittle sound, almost resembling ice giving way beneath unseen weight.
She stilled. Her breath caught in her throat as her gaze snapped toward the space ahead of her, toward the place where nothing stood... and yet everything resisted.
Another hit followed, and this ti, louder, making her shudder.
The air rippled violently when the invisible barrier bent inward for the briefest second before snapping back into place. One of the creatures struck it again almost imdiately after, its form distorting on impact before it was thrown backward, but clearly not as far as before.
Lucrezia’s chest tightened. They’re breaking it, she thought. Her fingers curled tighter into Vespera’s clothing, her grip trembling as she forced herself to move again. She dragged her back another inch, then another, her arms burning, and her breath shaking with the effort.
If they were attempting to gain leverage, then they barely had any ti left. Vespera’s power cannot hold the barrier for too long, and every second the impact throws them off balance, sapping the barrier’s strength.
"Please... just a little more..."
Behind her, the creatures did not stop either. They circled slower, and more deliberately, like wolves learning the edges of a trap. One would strike, then another, testing different angles, different points. Each impact sent a tremor through the air, and through her bones.
And each ti, the resistance grew weaker, Lucrezia felt it. She didn’t just see it, but felt it, like sothing fragile unraveling.
Her heart pounded wildly against her ribs. "No..." She whispered again, shaking her head as if denial alone could hold it together. "It’s holding... it’s still holding..."
But even as she said it, she knew it wouldn’t.
Then ca another strike, and the barrier shuddered violently, a faint shimr revealing itself for the first ti like glass under strain.
Lucrezia flinched at the sight. She could barely see the barrier now, the weak resistance gradually revealed it a thin distortion in the air, curved slightly around them, trembling with each blow.
It wasn’t strong anymore. It wasn’t whole. It was breaking.
That thought sent a ripple of trepidation in her stomach as her breath hitched sharply. Lucrezia felt like retching all the things she’d consud, though fear had its way of controlling such symptoms.
"Vespera..." She choked out, her voice cracking as she leaned closer, as though the woman could hear her through whatever darkness. "V-Vespera..." her voice broke again, softer this ti, almost swallowed by the cold air. "It’s failing... I—I don’t know what to do..."
The admission felt heavier than the weight on her shoulders. She didn’t want to die just yet. Her body was the most-wanted enemy desperately needed, weakened by pain and cold.
There was no response. Vespera lay pale and still, save for the faint and uneven warmth of breath against her wrist. The longer she was exposed, the quicker her ti crept closer.
Lucrezia’s chest tightened painfully at the sight.
If she could just get help—if she could run, find soone, anyone—maybe, just maybe, they still had a chance, she thought. But Lucrezia knew deep down she wouldn’t make it. Not like this. Not with the little strength she had left.
They were trapped.
Another impact, and this ti, the sound was unmistakable; a sharp, splintering crack that tore through the air.
Lucrezia flinched violently, her entire body going rigid as her gaze snapped forward. The shimr bent again, deeper this ti, warping inward as sothing pressed too hard. One of the creatures lunged imdiately after, its hollow eyes fixed, its form stretching as it collided.
For a heartbeat, it didn’t bounce back, and her stomach dropped.
"No—"
It recoiled a second later, thrown back, but not far. Not nearly far enough.
Closer. They were getting closer.
Her breath ca out in shallow bursts now, panic clawing its way up her throat as her grip tightened around Vespera. "Please... please, just stay..." she whispered, though she didn’t know if she was speaking to Vespera, the barrier, or sothing beyond both.
Another hit followed, then another—faster now, relentless, as though they could sense the barrier wouldn’t hold much longer.
The air rippled again, causing the faint outline of the barrier to flicker in and out of existence, like a dying fla struggling to hold shape.
Lucrezia dragged Vespera again, her strength nearly gone, her arms shaking so badly she almost lost her hold. Her boots slipped against the frozen ground, her knees buckling slightly before she forced herself upright again.
Endurance was her only option.
"Move..." she breathed, more to herself than anything. "You have to move..."
But her body refused to listen. She was too tired. Too weak. Too—
A sudden stillness cut through everything. It was so abrupt, so unnatural, that Lucrezia froze mid-step.
The creatures stopped. All of them. What shocked her the most was the absolute fact that they weren’t retreating, nor were they advancing. There were just... still, as though their movents had been seized by an unseen command.
Lucrezia’s breath caught at the sight of it, and for the nth ti, she felt lightheaded. If they stopped, she thought, then that ans...
Slowly, almost unwillingly, her gaze lifted past them, past the fractured air, and past the jagged divide in the earth to him who hadn’t moved once, eyes fixed utterly on her.
The look in his eyes this ti wasn’t just unnatural, but held sothing close to expectation. It was a daring sentint soone ominous could express, but she caught it without any doubt.
And yet, sohow, everything felt worse. From the air around him that felt... wrong. Heavier. Like sothing pressing down on the world itself.
Lucrezia’s pulse hamred painfully in her chest. He knew she wouldn’t escape. He knew they were trapped. And at the sa ti, he knew exactly what the barrier was, and exactly how to break it.
An absolute reminder that everything was within his capacity. That realization sank deep, cold, and suffocating.
Her fingers tightened instinctively around Vespera as a quiet dread settled over her. "No..." she whispered.
As if he caught that tiny broken whisper, he moved on cue.
It wasn’t fast, not like the creatures, but his movent was slow and utterly deliberate. Just one step forward. At that mont his foot touched the ground, and the air scread.
The barrier warped violently, the shimr distorting in a way it hadn’t before, bending sharply toward him as though reacting to sothing far more powerful than the creatures.
Lucrezia gasped, and Vespera’s chest rose in a violent shudder, and her breath ca out in sharp, uneven bursts. "V-Vespera!"
It only took a mont to see the toll it had taken as her strength gave way, and her shoulders fell heavily against the ground.
She was pale... too pale, almost resembling the dead.
Oh gods...
He took another step, and a crack split through the air, louder than any before. Lucrezia gasped as Vespera’s chest jerked again with a sharp burst, threatening to give out entirely.
This ti, she saw the thin, jagged fracture clearly, as it dispersed.
"No—no, no, no—!" Her voice broke as she stumbled back again, dragging Vespera with her in a desperate attempt to put distance between them, even though she knew it wouldn’t matter.
He took another step, and the fracture deepened, causing the barrier to flicker wildly. The air trembled, breaking apart in uneven waves.
Her heart pounded so hard it hurt. Please, thought again, hoping hard that it suddenly beca her mantra. Please just hold—
It didn’t, because with one final, quiet sound, it shattered completely.
Air knocked out of her lungs. The resistance vanished in an instant, like it had never been there at all, and the creatures moved imdiately.
They surged forward all at once like maniacs without hesitation, a victorious growl fleeing past their lips. It felt like the few that died instantly rose from the dead, doubled with a thousand more.
The sight rooted her to the spot as her jaw slackened, her face drained of all color, and her fingers went cold with dread as they tightened uselessly around Vespera.
There were too many. Too fast. Too close. Too impossible to ignore.
Lucrezia’s breath hitched sharply, though broken, as her body refused to respond, refused to run, refused to do anything but stand there and watch the inevitable close in.
And when it finally hit her, "No..." she whispered, the word barely leaving her lips as realization before instinct sank in.
Lucrezia’s breath hitched as she tried to move, tried to pull Vespera back again, but her legs gave out beneath her. She dropped hard to her knees, the impact sending a jolt of pain up her body.
No.
No, no, no—
She scrambled, trying to drag Vespera with her, her fingers slipping, as her strength faded. They were too close. Far too close.
Her chest tightened painfully as panic consud her completely. There was nothing left to do. Nowhere left to go.
Her arms tightened around Vespera instead, instinctively pulling her closer, as though she could shield her from what was coming.
But there was nothing left to shield her from.
Nothing.
The ground trembled faintly beneath the force of their approach, the cold air slicing through her as they closed the distance, their hollow eyes fixed towards their direction, like predators in search of their prey, hungry for them.
Closer.
Closer.
And closer—
Until in that final, fragile mont as fear threatened to swallow her whole, sothing inside her stirred.
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