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The pain was back, stronger now, and she had to clench her jaw. Perhaps another rib had just broken.

Her opponents attacked in unison. The flurry of yellow crystals came first, obscuring her view of Desmond, and she figured that was probably their real purpose. She had no intention of allowing herself to be pinned down again, so instead of blocking the crystals, she chose to avoid them. She thrust her gauntleted fist toward the ground, and the purple flooded forth, sending her up and over Andres’ attack. With her ragged cloak flourishing behind her on the way back down, she whipped the shadow around to lash at Desmond, who lost an arm in order to avoid losing his head.

A bed of crystal spikes rose up to meet her as she landed, and she narrowly retrieved the shadow in time to stop herself from falling upon them. The spikes tried to rise up higher, but the shadow slashed them down, allowing her to reach the ground safely again.

And by now, with this being her third fight against the man, she had a good idea of what Desmond would do. Her back was to him at the moment, and she fully expected him to have already thrown another explosive at her, so she spun around in order to swat it right back at him. And sure enough, her prediction proved correct. The purple shadow slapped the sizzling forearm away, and the subsequent explosion knocked Desmond off his feet.

She pursued him, somersaulting with violet over the crystals that tried to bar her path, and as Desmond was struggling back up again, her sword fell upon him, goring him through the chest.

He met her gaze, and Lynnette could see the flesh of his face begin to darken.

She yanked the blade upward and cut straight through the man’s neck and skull, splattering the grass with blood and brain. His remaining flesh ceased its darkening.

That was one down, but Andres didn’t give her a chance to breathe, and the sky above her dimmed as a gigantic crystal appeared over her head.