The alley swallowed them whole.
Narrow walls rose on either side, slick with condensation from overhead vents. The sounds of the main street faded into muffled background noise—hustle, bustle, chatter—replaced by the drip of water and the distant hum of the city's mana grid.
Kael didn't slow down. Neither did anyone else.
The three men following them weren't subtle. Kael had sensed them the moment they'd left Nine-Star Trading House keeping exactly fifteen meters of distance. Amateur hour.
He'd given a single hand signal. The group had understood.
Now, as the followers rounded the corner into the alley, they found nothing.
Empty, dark and quiet.
"Where—"
The man's confusion lasted exactly two seconds.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
Something massive moved in the darkness behind them. Scales scraped against stone—a sound like sandpaper on glass, amplified a hundredfold. Then the light caught it.
A snake.
