The blast tore the air apart.
Blue energy burst from Elias's chest and rolled across the arena in a hard dome of heat. Sound arrived after it, a sharp crack that kicked gravel and black glass into the dark.
Kikaru crossed her arms over her face. Golden light snapped into a barrier around her. The shockwave hit and drove her backward until her boots cut trenches through the dirt.
The harness around her chest broke apart under the force. Blue iron fragments scattered across the gravel and dissolved before they stopped moving. The pressure lifted her hair and tore the sleeve from her burned shoulder.
When the heat passed, she dropped the shield.
Elias lay on his back near the center of the ring. The mirrored blade was gone. Blood spread beneath him, dark against the gravel, but the bleeding had already begun to slow.
His body was fading.
