Ayame's heart slammed against her ribs.
The tear sat a hundred meters to their flank, a wall of absolute black wider than any [Shinkai Mon] her sister had ever opened, but she knew.
On a deep, instinctual level, she knew.
This was Kaede.
And the timing...
'She waited for us to engage.' They had committed to the fortress, every fighter on the slope, Morgana in the sky, Aurora's shields stretched forward, and Kaede had timed this to the second.
"Hostiles incoming!" The shout tore from her throat, and the charge on the fortress shattered as Quinlan's women pivoted toward the flank. Strikes flew at the darkness: fire, light, solar heat, cursed energy.
Above, Quinlan and Morgana abandoned the sky in the same breath, dropping toward the field.
The darkness answered before they landed.
