The artifact was gone, but the weight of it lingered. Jae and Tirel stood in silence, the last wisps of smoke curling away from the space where it had been, as though the forest itself was trying to swallow the memory.
The night was still, yet somehow heavier, like the trees knew what they had just witnessed.
Jae exhaled, rolling his shoulders as though shaking off the unseen pressure. "We're done here," he said at last.
Tirel nodded, though her eyes kept darting back to the roots of the tree. It was as if she half-expected the artifact to reappear, mocking them.
She extinguished the fire clutched in her palm, leaving them cloaked in darkness until the moonlight filtered weakly through the canopy.
The path back was quieter, though not silent. Every so often, a distant shriek echoed through the forest, but no creature dared approach. It was as though destroying the artifact had broken the will of the shadows.
