Time seemed to halt for the instant they were both suspended in midair, just above the eerie glow of a huge statue. Then a white light blazed through the monster, forming an imprint of a skeleton, before snapping in three places simultaneously with a loud, sickening CRACK--

Stunned, noiseless, the monster let go of Liya; she was suddenly free and in nothing but empty space, veins of light searing around her arm and in her face.