Nathan and Shiina reappeared far from Minami Kyoto.
The battlefield vanished beneath them in an instant.
No red banners.
No city walls.
No soldiers shouting in fear.
Only an empty field stretched beneath a pale afternoon sky.
The land had once been used for farming, but the crops had long been harvested. Dry stalks covered the ground in uneven patches, bending beneath the wind. Low hills surrounded the field on three sides, and a thin line of forest stood far in the distance.
There were no houses.
No villages.
No civilians.
No one who could be caught between them.
Nathan landed first.
His sandals touched the earth without a sound, though the black magic around him continued to curl through the air like smoke. The force of his arrival still cracked the ground beneath his feet, creating a small circle of broken soil around him.
Shiina landed several paces away.
