Vivina’s golden aura sputtered like a dying candle, casting frantic, jumping shadows against the damp brickwork of the sewer. The air grew instantly heavier, smelling of ozone and rot, as the armored inquisitors closed their ring tighter around the runoff junction.“My aura is failing, Freecs!” Vivina shouted, her voice tight with exhaustion as she deflected a plunging halberd with a screech of shearing metal. “I can't hold them off much longer!”“Look at their visors!” Freecs yelled back, ducking beneath a sweeping chain weapon that tore chunks of masonry from the wall. “They aren’t breathing, Vivina! They’re pulsing in sync with the shadow-beast! Every time you flare your light, the construct grows denser!”“What are you talking about? It’s reacting to us!” she snapped, executing a desperate backflip to avoid a wave of solidifying darkness that instantly crystallized the puddles beneath her boots.“No, it’s reacting to you!” Freecs realized, his mind racing as he recalled the prison