The silence that followed the battle was almost as suffocating as the fight itself.
Lian remained still, his fingers still gripping the hilt of Oblivion, his eyes fixed on the lifeless body of the ex-soldier. The smell of blood and rotting flesh permeated the air, and his breathing was heavy, not just from the effort of the fight, but from the reality of what had just happened.
He hesitated.
If Vance hadn't appeared at the last second, he would be dead.
"You froze," Viktor's cutting voice echoed across the field. He pulled his spear from the corpse with a swift motion and wiped the blood on his pant leg. "If it had been a faster enemy, we wouldn't be talking right now."
Lian clenched his teeth. He knew Viktor was right.
Looking around, he saw the other soldiers gathering. Vance went to Deren, checking his broken arm, while the others still stood alert, as if expecting more enemies to emerge from the forest.
