The shadow rushed them with alarming speed, the hulking figure emerging from the gloom like a nightmare come to life.
Zara forced herself to move, raising the knife in a trembling hand. "Stay back," she said, her voice shaking but firm.
The man barked a laugh, the sound echoing off the crumbling walls. "What're you gonna do with that, sweetheart? Cut me a flower?"
He lunged. Zara barely had time to register its size before instinct kicked in. She gripped the knife Mia had given her and swung wildly, her inexperience showing in the clumsy arc.
The man caught her wrist effortlessly, his grip iron-like, and with a brutal twist, the knife clattered to the floor. Zara gasped in pain, stumbling back as the man loomed closer.
"Well, aren't you feisty," he sneered, his voice low and gravelly. His face was a grotesque combination of scars and sneering malice, his crooked teeth yellowed and his eyes glinting with cruelty.
