Draevyn watched her, something in his expression shifting—not surprise, not quite approval. A faint, almost pleased smile touched his mouth.“With pleasure.”He moved. So did she.They collided—not in flesh, but in shadow.Darkness tore free from every corner of the courtyard—from beneath pillars, from fractured ground, from the very air itself—surging toward them in violent currents that rose and twisted overhead, forming a dense, writhing canopy that swallowed the light whole.Their power struck at the same instant. Shadow met shadow in a brutal clash—tendrils slamming together, coiling, tearing, forcing against one another in a contest for dominance. The air screamed with the strain of it, pressure building as neither yielded.For a single suspended second, they held—then it broke.The force detonated outward, ripping the darkness apart and hurling them in opposite directions. They hit hard, driven across the ground as the shockwave tore through the courtyard.Draevyn recovered firs
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