An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

Leander was sent flying, and for a heartbeat, everyone in the yard stood in stunned silence. Weapons slipped from soldiers’ hands and clattered to the ground, and their eyes widened in terror. Many instinctively stepped back and bumped against the wooden fence, but no one dared look down.

Nathaniel’s sword gave a sharp, buzzing tremor. He tightened his grip on the hilt, holding it so hard that the red marks of his fingertips were left on the scabbard.

The child’s earlier punch had been nothing but a blur. The small, chubby fist seemed harmless, yet when it struck Leander’s chest, it landed like a meteor.

Nathaniel saw Leander’s black armor cave in. He heard the sharp crack of ribs breaking, the grinding of bone scraping against bone.

“Captain Grimsby…”

A guard trembled as he tried to step forward and help Leander, but he froze after only two steps.

Leander, curled up beneath the fence, choked as black blood bubbled from his throat. Each breath was more ragged than the last, and his sunken chest writhed as if something were crawling beneath the skin.

The most terrifying part was his eyes. They bulged as though ready to pop out from their sockets, but his eyes were still fixed on the child on the swing. Even in death, his pupils were frozen in fear.

The child pumped his legs as the swing rose to its peak. His short jacket lifted in the wind, showing his chubby arm with soft rolls.

ground. The dark shine of his eyes reflected the morning glories on the wooden fence. Suddenly, he pointed at one half-opened

the gut. Nathaniel broke out in a cold sweat. His battle robe clung to his wounds, and the wet fabric

made a terrible mistake. On this island where immortals and demons were indistinguishable, how could a

punch contained earth-shaking power. It was probably more terrifying than the

to one knee. He was unable to hide the tremor in his voice. “We’re just ordinary people who wandered

soldiers behind him snapped out of their daze and dropped to their knees. The armor clattered loudly and sharply

even withstand a single punch from this

swing rose higher, and the sturdy branches creaked softly. The child seemed oblivious to Nathaniel’s apology, or perhaps simply didn’t

his head back to watch the drifting clouds while humming that tuneless nursery rhyme again. Strange as it was, the sound carried a lulling cadence, and more than one soldier felt their

his teeth

to say something when he saw the child suddenly raise his small

from deep within the grove. It carried countless

felt a tremendous force slam into his chest. He was thrown

rose one after another as everyone was swept away like dust

open instantly. Others tripped over vines and rolled down the slope into

blue stone, and his vision went black. He struggled to lift his head just in time