Moon hit the ground and moved.
He was already inside the first Cragbrute's charge. Weaponmaster was alive in his sword work, his sword coming around in a rising diagonal cut that opened the beast's chest from hip to shoulder.
Purple lightning discharged along the wound and the Cragbrute's body seized mid-stride, its front legs collapsing beneath it. Moon pivoted off the falling corpse and drove into the second beast before its charge had fully committed.
The second cut took a Cragbrute's leg at the knee.
The third opened another's throat.
The fourth severed a curled horn from its base, then continued through the skull beneath.
Limbs fell across the packed dirt. Bodies crumpled. Blood pooled outward from the wounds Moon's sword produced. His blade moved through the beasts' hide as if the muscle and bone had been softened before the fight.
Rowan watched from the branch above with stars in his eyes.
