For years, those yellow crystals remained safe and steady. But tonight, one crystal was missing.
The guards froze. One swallowed hard, while the other stepped forward, staring at the empty gap left in the rotating formation. The missing crystal left a small ripple in the air, the faint energy trembling, as if mourning its departure.
"H–Hey… where did the one on the right go?" one guard whispered, voice tight.
The other frowned. "It didn't fall. It would've shattered. This one… vanished."
A long, tense silence followed, and both men exchanged a nervous look.
"We need to report this. Immediately," the first guard said.
"To whom?" the second asked.
"The Patriarch, of course. Who else?"
The first guard hesitated at that. His lips twitched before he leaned closer and whispered, "You mean the current Patriarch? Hah, do you really want to go tell him that one of his elders died on his first day in power?"
