The transfer spat them into ash.
Elias landed shoulder first on broken concrete. The impact drove the air out of him and shoved his ribs against each other. He rolled once, scraped both palms over exposed rebar, and stopped with his cheek against grit that smelled like burned cement.
For a few breaths he could only hear himself trying to breathe.
Colby hit the ground to his left with enough force to shake loose dust from a cracked wall. The big man's back arched. Orange soul energy flashed under his skin in uneven pulses, bright around the scars crossing his chest.
Kikaru dragged herself upright against a snapped concrete pylon. She kept her torn ankle off the ground, jaw tight, her gold Ikona dark at her sternum. "Colby, breathe through your nose and count with me until the pressure drops."
Colby forced his one good eye open. His hand pressed hard against his chest, fingers spread as if he could hold his own heartbeat in place.
Elias pushed onto his knees.
