In an imperceptible breath, Livia vanished from her position, leaving behind a void that seemed to absorb light itself. The air no longer bore any trace of her presence, as if reality had erased her existence from that precise moment. Only a slight ripple in the atmosphere betrayed the passage of her body, like a mirage fading in desert heat.
A whisper of movement caressed Mordred's left ear a phantom touch, almost tender in its discretion. His senses, sharpened by the recent metamorphosis that had rebuilt every fiber of his being, caught this tremor with crystalline acuity. He remained perfectly still, a black marble statue planted at the center of the cell, his feet having not moved a millimeter since the beginning of their confrontation.
