Kain's fingers scraped against crumbling stone as he slid backward toward the acid. His leg screamed where it had struck the platform's edge, his other leg already dangling over the bubbling flood. Above him, Soreia stood motionless, her white eyes unreadable.
Several heartbeats passed that felt like an eternity.
In the first, Kain's free hand found the obsidian dagger still strapped to his belt—its edge gleaming with unnatural sharpness. He couldn't stab downward into the stone for purchase, it was too strong. But a pitiful part of him wanted to try stabbing into her— to take her down with him. Unfortunately, the angle was wrong.
In the second heartbeat, the acid's heat could be clearly felt searing through the remnants of his boots. The Pathstone's protection had faded entirely. One slip, and he'd dissolve like sugar in tea.
In the third heartbeat, Soreia's hand twitched toward her own personal dagger at her hip.
