The dim glow of Aiyaka's crystalline edifices barely illuminated our confrontation. My heart raced, each pulse echoing the weight of our predicament. Held in a vice-like grip by the leader of the mechanized lizards, I felt the relentless pressure of its claws. Every instinct told me to flee, to escape its inexorable clasp, but fear tethered me in place. My thoughts swirled like the frigid gusts that whistled through the streets.
Without warning, a rush of air, swift and forceful, burst through, scattering the lizards that had cornered Lucianna. The source? Laira, weakly rising from the ground, her fingertips still shimmering from the spell she'd just conjured. I could see it in her trembling form, her valiant heart fighting through the exhaustion.
