Kai dashed in, his twin daggers slicing toward the beast's back.
But the gorilla spun, catching one dagger with its palm.
It squeezed.
Crack!
The dagger's hilt snapped clean off.
Kai's eyes widened—then narrowed.
[
Mist swirled around him like a cloak, and just as the gorilla's other hand came crashing down, it passed harmlessly through where Kai had been.
As he reappeared behind it, blade in reverse grip, and slashed at the back of its thigh.
A clean hit.
But the wound was shallow. Too shallow.
Still, blood flowed now. A thin trickle down its leg.
Kai leapt back, chest rising and falling.
His arm throbbed from the earlier parry.
Corrin limped beside him, holding his side.
Vex and Stromeon flanked them, both breathing heavily.
The gorilla was barely bleeding.
Kai stared at it, jaw tight.
His eyes swept across the cavern—high walls, jagged spikes, scattered ledges. There were options.
But they needed time.
And space.
