"Call your army back!" Alera did as Pyris said, her energy was decreasing slightly.
The creatures-grotesque now free, with limbs twisted and eyes glowing a fierce shade of violet-began to shift and grow, their bodies morphing with a dark energy that seemed to pulse from the ground itself.
Pyris clenched his fists, feeling the weight of the challenge intensify.
"Anyone else feel like things just went from bad to worse?" Alera muttered, her hand resting on the hilt of her weapon, eyes scanning the creatures as they circled. The creatures' eyes bore down on them with a new, almost malicious intelligence.
Zara's chuckle came from behind, watching the scene with an amused smile. "What did you expect, a walk in the park?"
But as Pyris looked at the new, hulking forms advancing, he sensed a deeper danger. "They're not just getting stronger," he murmured, feeling a prickle of foreboding. "They're learning."
