Adam stood alone in the eye of the storm, the battlefield frozen around him like a painting left unfinished. Cradled securely in his arms, Nyla's small frame rested against his chest, her silver eyes shut in suspended stillness.
Not a scratch marked her pale skin, as it was left untouched for the most part, unstirred, utterly unmarred by the chaos that had unfolded around them. The world held its breath in in utter stillness with her.
The ground beneath him was scorched and fractured, blackened by spells that had come too close.
Blood, most of it not his, glistened darkly under the flickering light of torches in the coliseum.
Shattered stone statues and bits of bone littered the ground alike.
The crowd of amuse vampires, carnal and unjust in every sense of the word, all stood there and sat there, mid-combat, totally unaware of the mayhem that was about to befall them in this frozen world.
Adam exhaled slowly, his breath fogging in the unnatural chill.
