Erend, Eccar, and Aesa stepped out of the potion shop without another glance back. The bell above the door rang softly behind them, swallowed almost immediately by the low murmur of the slum district.
They walked at a steady pace through the narrow streets, neither hurried nor slow. Their expressions remained calm, but their minds were far from quiet.
"Three major sites and five minor ones," Eccar's voice echoed within their shared telepathic link, edged with irritation. "I expected one corrupted core. Not a scattered infestation like this."
"Right. It complicates everything," Aesa replied, her mental tone as cold and precise as frost forming over steel. "If the Creation fractured or anchored itself in multiple points, we cannot assume destroying one will end it, instead it will be alarming to the others."
