Time seemed to slow down.
The air whooshed past Sol's ears as he blurred into motion. The world narrowed to the desperate cries of the fallen kids, the pounding footsteps of the approaching Marauders, and the glint of axes raised high in the sunlight.
Every heartbeat felt like a thunderclap. The dust kicked up by the enemy hung in the air like an exquisite slow-motion shot. The recruits' terrified faces stretched in slow, agonizing detail as they tried to crawl away from the death closing in on them.
It was a tense, heart-stopping moment.
The young Veynar recruits tried hard to control their bodies, which seemed to have given in due to sheer terror as the Marauders closed in.
Their legs felt like they were made of lead, heavy and unresponsive.
Their lungs burned with every desperate breath. The world around them narrowed to the pounding of their own hearts and the terrifying thunder of enemy steps growing louder behind them.
