I ducked low and burst to the side, narrowly avoiding the first hammer swing.
The weapon crashed down where I stood a breath ago, kicking up snow and broken earth. Fire surged up my staff as I twisted and countered with a blazing strike aimed at his ribs.
He blocked just in time, but the flames licked up his arm.
He grunted and twisted, launching himself back onto another rising platform.
"Too slow!" he shouted.
The hammer in his hand began to glow, a deep, angry red. I felt the Essence stir unnaturally around it.
"[Gigantic Smash]!"
The moment slowed. I moved to dodge, body tensing to spring away but the platform beneath his feet launched him straight at me like a cannonball.
The hammer met my ribs mid-dodge, and the world snapped sideways.
I flew.
Pain exploded through my side as I slammed into the ground, only it wasn't snow or soil that caught me. The surface had shifted beneath me mid-flight. Hardened. Black. Slick like obsidian.
Crack.
