The evening mist curled between crooked trees, seeping through roots like silent breath. Ember-flakes drifted lazily from the canopy above, casting warm orange glows across the group's impromptu camp.
They had settled beneath a half-collapsed stone arch, probably once part of an ancient ruin now overtaken by corrupted bark and ivy.
Vines glowed faintly in the dimness, occasionally pulsing as if something beneath the forest floor was breathing.
Clara was leaning back on a chunk of stone, waving her whip-like sword for no real reason.
Jessy had dismantled part of her metal board to tinker with its magnetic core.
Graye, unsurprisingly, had made a mini bonfire with a theatrical swoosh of flame and was roasting something that looked suspiciously like corrupted squirrel meat.
That act from Graye, however, had traumatized Nibbles to the point that he ran away with Cluckles and the panther-like beast, wanting to catch some fresh air.
