The Cosmos of Shadows

Shadows drew into Astarlane like the finest of cloaks, draping her form and reducing her blade to a sliver of the deepest dusk. Each massive, raining blow from the khopesh rung against a edge that was no longer wholly in this universe, or even the next.

Astarlane held the darkness in a clenched fist, jaw locked and brow heavy. Inside the spinning, whirling weave of steel she moved carefully, never touching the darkness that trailed her. This power was not hers; it was borrowed and would soon need to be returned.

She angled her attacks up, baiting the orc into another overhead swing, and promptly sidestepped past it. A slim, booted foot snapped out and trapped the blade on the ground, and then she leaned forwards to deliver a pommel strike to the orc's head.

He fell, and she allowed the shadows to vaporise in what remained of daylight. In the silence that followed, she sheathed her sword, nodded at Sadie, and strode off without further comment.