The next day, the sky dimmed like a curtain being drawn over the world.
Kai has not moved from his spot. Not since he fought whatever that 'being' was.
The moment the sun vanished behind the moon, a rush of unnatural cold swept through the mountains. The wind died. The sound of waves below went still, as if the ocean itself was holding its breath. Kai's skin prickled, every hair standing on end. It wasn't just the eclipse.
Something had changed.
Those faint mana signatures he had been tracking for days, the ones skulking at the edges of his sight, suddenly moved.
All of them.
In perfect unison, they turned toward where Vepice stood.
From the west, a faint glimmer broke through the darkness.
A flickering, swirling light.
Kai's boots hit the stone as he leapt down from his perch, landing beside the carriage below.
He'd reinforced his legs with strengthening magic and cushioned his landing with wind magic enough to spare his bones from shattering at the bottom of the cliff.
