"This was your better idea?" Caelen asked, his voice cutting through the damp quiet as he stepped over the trunk of a fallen tree—its bark split and still smoking from earlier combat.
The air hung heavy with the scent of ozone and charred wood.
Branches jutted like broken ribs from the forest floor, and with every step, the ground groaned beneath the weight of destruction.
The deeper they went, the darker it became—mist swallowing the faint shafts of light that managed to pierce through.
"I'm sorry to agree with him, Captain…" Mio said, breath uneven as he followed close behind Kairo. His threads flickered faintly around his fingers, useless now but restless. "But… is this really where Eli would go?"
Kairo didn't answer right away. He could hear Mel and Zaira struggling to keep up behind them, pushing past splintered branches the size of pillars.
