"Half an hour?" Aren's voice cracked. "That's too long. What if—"
"It's enough time for me to get in, see what we're dealing with, and get out." Kael tried to sound more confident than he felt. "And if something goes wrong, it's enough time for you to get help and for them to organize a proper response."
Henrik completed another cycle. In the brief moment when his head turned toward them, Kael could swear the thing's smile had grown wider.
The clicking from within the shop had grown more frequent.
"I can't lose you too," Aren whispered, and Kael realized his friend was thinking about the hanging girl, about how close they had all come to dying in those ruins.
"You won't," Kael promised, though the words felt hollow. "I'm not the same person I was three days ago, Aren. I'm stronger now. And I promise to return safely."
Aren looked between Kael and the shop, his hands clenched into fists. Finally, he nodded reluctantly.
"Half an hour," he said firmly. "Not a second longer. And if I sense anything else approaching—any other energy signatures—I'm coming in after you."
"Fair enough." Kael managed a grim smile. "Just... stay in the shadows. Don't let that thing see you clearly."
He took a deep breath, feeling the mana flow through his enhanced muscles. His heart was hammering, but his mind was clear.
Henrik's head began its turn toward them once more.
Kael waited for the cycle to complete, then stepped forward into the darkness.
Kael stepped through the doorway, his enhanced senses immediately scanning the interior. The shop looked... completely normal.
Shelves lined the walls, filled with the usual array of tools, nails, rope, and farming equipment's. The familiar smell of iron and old wood filled his nostrils.
It was so ordinary that for a moment, Kael wondered if they had imagined everything.
Then he saw Henrik.
The shopkeeper's body was pressed against the far wall, arms spread wide as if he'd been thrown against it with tremendous force. His feet barely touched the ground. His head hung at an unnatural angle, and Kael could see thin, dark threads wrapped around his wrists and ankles—threads that seemed to disappear into the wall itself.
Kael held his breath and watched Henrik's chest for several long seconds.
No movement. No breathing.
Whatever was controlling Henrik's face in the window, it wasn't coming from his actual body.
Satisfied that Henrik posed no immediate threat, Kael moved deeper into the shop.
The shop stretched back further than it should have. From outside, it had looked like a simple two-room building, but the interior corridor seemed to continue into darkness well beyond where the back wall should be.
Thack. Thack. Thack.
The sound stopped Kael cold. It was coming from somewhere ahead, like someone chopping wood with an axe, but with a wet, meaty quality that made his stomach turn.
Thack. Thack. Thack.
He pressed himself against the wall and crept forward, deciding not to use his mana. Better to remain as quiet and undetectable as possible. His natural senses would have to be enough.
The corridor opened into what should have been the shop's storage room, but instead revealed a much larger space. Stone walls replaced the wooden ones, and the ceiling stretched high above, disappearing into shadow.
This wasn't Henrik's shop anymore—it was something else entirely, something that existed in the space behind the normal world.
Thack. Thack. Thack.
The chopping sound was louder now, accompanied by what sounded like... whimpering. Soft, pained sounds that made Kael's blood run cold.
He moved along the stone wall, using the shadows to conceal himself, until he could peer around a corner.
What he saw made his heart stop.
A large chamber opened before him, lit by several flickering candles placed in a rough circle. In the center of the circle, a figure bent over something on what looked like a stone table. The figure's back was to Kael, but he could see the rise and fall of an axe in their hands.
Thack.
The whimpering grew louder.