Elara's Frost Veil rolled across the pit.
It did not come in as a gentle cover. It moved low and fast, swallowing the gravel around Ravel's boots and turning every ridge into a white-edged hazard. The boundary torches lost color behind it. Cubes hovered near Elara's shoulder, rotating in measured cuts.
Ravel sent Necklace forward.
Five vertebrae sliced through the veil toward Elara's chest and throat. They did not fly in a single line. One angled high, two curved low, and the last pair looped wide as if aiming for where she would dodge instead of where she stood.
Elara brought Permafrost Armor over her body.
Ice locked over her shoulders, ribs, and thighs in overlapping plates. The first vertebra struck her chest and shattered against the armor. The second scraped past her cheek and opened a thin red line. The others hit hard enough to crack the outer ice, but none reached the spine.
She answered with spears.
