Flight from the Fracture

The Dreadwyrm's claws crashed against the remnants of Kael's shattered barrier, the impact sending a shockwave through the Holloway mansion's foyer. Shards of marble and splintered wood sprayed outward, and Elara jolted awake in Vincent's arms, her vision swimming as the beast's roar drowned out her ragged breaths. The air was thick with dust and the acrid tang of magic, the rift's violet light pulsing overhead like a wound bleeding chaos into Everwood. Edward's laughter—wild, unhinged—cut through the din, a chilling counterpoint to the Dreadwyrm's fury as he stood in the courtyard, the rift shard glowing in his fist.

Vincent tightened his hold on Elara, his jaw clenched as he backed toward the stairs, his dark eyes locked on the beast. "We're leaving—now!" he shouted, his voice a lifeline in the storm. Her weight was nothing to him, his strength fueled by desperation, but she could feel the tremor in his arms, the fear he wouldn't voice.