“Dark wings of the abyss…” Finn whispered, stepping back. “Is that… tenerants?”

  Elvira didn’t hesitate.

  A thin dark thread shot from her palm and struck the tenerant’s chest with a dry, bone-like crack. For a fraction of a second, the creature jerked, then it absorbed the blow. The spell vanished inside it like a polite donation. The figure thickened and broadened.

  Another one extended an arm — if it could be called that. The misty limb lengthened instantly, and clawed tendrils tore through the air where she had been standing a moment before.

  Elvira barely managed to dodge.

  “Can only be dispelled by its summoner!” Elvira shouted. “Or controlled!”

  “Then control it!” Finn barked.

  He cast. A dark loop wrapped around the tenerant. For a second the creature froze, then the loop disintegrated — absorbed. The tenerant grew taller, its shape solidified, the ribs became clearer. The eyes burned brighter.

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  “They’re stronger than us,” Elvira whispered, already pale. “Whoever summoned them is much stronger.”

  “Brilliant,” Finn muttered. “Just brilliant.”

  He hurled green magic again — desperate, instinctive. The spell struck the tenerant and vanished into it. The creature grew again.

  The silence in the hall thickened, heavy and viscous. Every sound seemed swallowed by the air. I pressed back against the wall, my heart pounding so loudly I was certain everyone could hear it. In desperation, I tried to summon the same feeling with which I had subdued skeleton Yarson.

  Focused. Tensed. Raised my hands like before and … nothing.

  The creature lifted both arms, the mist around it swirled thicker, and then, from the opposite end of the hall, a voice rang out:

  “Down!”

  I dropped before I even recognised it. The air split. An explosion — not deafening, but clean and sharp, like light striking darkness. The chamber flared with a blinding flash.