[ Do not read it. The story needs fixing and is not being followed correctly. Please do not purchase it. ]
A vertical, pitch-black rift the size of a dinner plate instantly tore open in the empty air directly between them.
Valerius was moving too fast to stop. His extended hand plunged straight into the void.
Lucian clenched his fist.
SNIKT.
The portal violently snapped shut.
Valerius's momentum carried him forward, but he stumbled, completely losing his balance. He looked down, his brain failing to process what had just happened.
The front half of his expensive, enchanted steel gauntlet was gone. Completely erased. And along with it, the top three inches of his middle and index fingers.
There was a split second of absolute, dead silence.
Then, the blood started pouring. Thick, crimson liquid sprayed from the perfectly smooth, severed stumps of his fingers, splashing heavily against the wooden floorboards of the hallway.
"AAAGHHH!"
