The Luna's Deception
A scream, thin and furious, ripped from smoke that had clung to him for longer than either of us wanted to remember, spiraling upward in a thick coil that twisted against the purple sky like something fighting for its life.
Kieran's knees buckled, and I held him upright with everything I had, refusing to let go even as the smoke lashed outward, nearly severing my grip on him entirely.
"Do not let go of me," he gritted out, voice strained.
"I am not letting go."
The smoke fought harder, thinning in places before thickening again, and above us the eclipse seemed to pulse in rhythm with its struggle, drawing the black tendrils upward inch by inch toward the center of the darkened sun.