The Ashen Expanse was as bleak and twisted as ever—ashen winds howling over the warped stone plains, and corrupted trees creaked like ancient bones.
Yet, somehow, the scene somewhere deep, where corrupt beasts are supposed to be running wild, was… oddly peaceful.
Cluckles, the snow-white chicken, wrapped in his fluffy red scarf, sat upon a smooth boulder, one leg crossed over the other like a sage atop a mountain.
His beady black eyes shimmered with the deep, disappointed wisdom of someone left behind.
"The great Cluckles," he said solemnly, "was abandoned. Forgotten. Left to perish in this bleak realm with naught but feather and scarf."
He had been going on about it for around an hour.
After all, Raven and his group had left him alone.
Well, not alone, as across from him, the panther-like corrupt beast—sleek, dark, and elegant—lay on the ground, tilting its head in utter confusion.
