The air reeked of burnt flesh and ozone. Reed stood amid the carnage of what had once been a thriving village, now reduced to charred timbers and scattered corpses. His handiwork. His evolution.
Blood seeped between his fingers as he flexed his hand, watching how the crimson liquid no longer simply stained his skin but seemed to sink into it, absorbed like water into parched soil. The territory's expansion had changed him in ways he was only beginning to comprehend.
"You're getting stronger," Shia said, materializing from shadow at his side. Her form flickered between solid and vapor, a new manifestation of her own transformation. Where once she had been merely Reed's lieutenant, now she was becoming something... other.
"Not strong enough," Reed replied, his voice carrying a resonance that made the air vibrate. Another new ability—voice laced with command essence. "The Archon's sentinels were merely scouts. What comes next will be worse."
