Slaying Aldos

Adrian's breath slowed, his chest rising and falling like the ebb and flow of a turbulent ocean. His surroundings seemed to shift with every beat of his heart.

Aldos was still suspended in mid-air, his wings fluttering with impatient annoyance, the gray flames still licking at the edges of the cauldron.

Adrian's eyes, now an intense azure blue, burned with an inner fire that was not his own.

The countdown had ended.

In that split second, everything changed. The air within the cauldron grew thick with power as runes began to manifest in radiant blue light across Adrian's body.

First, one appeared on the back of his left hand, glowing with an ethereal brilliance. Then, as though the runes were living things, the second appeared on his right hand, pulsating with vibrant energy, like a heartbeat within his flesh.

The third and final rune emerged at the base of his spine, a swirling mark that seemed to draw power from the very fabric of reality itself.