Aurelius stood at the edge of the ruined district office, the long folds of his dark robes stirring only faintly in the dead wind.
The building had collapsed inward in places and was missing entirely in others, massive chunks of stone littering the ground. The roof had also partially caved in from the chaos of the battle days ago.
The silence that filled the air in the destruction wasn't just eerie. It was unnatural.
No sound passed through. Not footsteps, and definitely not voices. Only the faint crunch of his boots echoed as he moved forward.
He walked past shattered desks and destroyed walls, the smell of old blood strong beneath the dust.
A hidden switch near a collapsed archway hissed as he pressed it, causing a section of the wall to slide open.
The shadows inside swallowed him as he stepped down the spiral stairway, deeper into the basement of the broken district office.
