Most underrated duel in the series for me
I was re-reading the Battle of Heliopolis and, while those chapters are already some of the best in fiction imo, I had forgotten how insane the short duel between Thraxa and Lysander is.
It’s one of the most underrated fights in the whole series (havent seen people talk much about it, maybe i ve missed it)
You go from seeing just how monstrously strong Thraxa is to Lysander basically running for his life in the middle of Red Rain. The entire sequence feels chaotic and terrifying from his POV.
“Kalindora cuts her clean in half and then looks over my head with wide eyes. ‘Tele—’
An immense force lands on me.
Whatever it is, it is heavy enough to make Blood of Empire reel sideways. I’m flung from my saddle. As I stand, a blur comes at my head from the side. I twist away and a tremendous impact lifts me clean off my knees and throws me through a window into an apartment atrium.”
That whole scene had me more hyped than almost any duel in the series the first time I read it.