probability clones

At the same time, my Elementals—the parts of me I had encompassed and now manifested in their familiar shapes—marched forward through it all like a small army. They were different now, the change a spiritual one instead of anything physical, because they were perfected in unity with both me and each other. Though the battlefield was rendered into chaos, they pushed forward.

The moment they were close enough to touch him, however, Malkuth exploded into a mass of what I could only describe as probability clones—the odds of him trying to escape in a given direction granted not-quite physical form. They’d shatter, I could tell, falling to zero the moment they were caught, but if even one escaped, they’d turn out to be the real Malkuth. My Elementals immediately leapt into action, shifting and dividing as needed to reach their targets, but I stayed back, expecting a trick.

Because of that, I noticed the subtle movement of space as one of the probability clones took a less conventional path, slipping through something I would have thought a portal had it not clung to his skin. I followed suit all the same, willing myself to be more of a constant than any of the principles that governed space, tying myself to Malkuth and remaining equidistant from him even as he moved. I recognized his target before he even appeared and reacted as he materialized above Autumn, pulling instead of allowing myself to be pulled.