Akhil hovered at the edge of the clearing, his eyes narrowed as he looked down at the deceptively peaceful landscape.
In the opening below, pristine white flowers glowed gently, swaying as if under the warmth of a summer sun that shouldn't exist in this freezing altitude.
They were sparsely spread across the field, and to a normal observer, nothing looked out of place. It appeared to be a simple, empty meadow—a momentary sanctuary amidst the jagged rocks and lethal fog.
But Akhil knew better than to trust the silence. He remembered the forum posts and the death counts from the game. Why else would he have loathed this trial so much if it were truly empty?
'There's a reason why the fog doesn't come close to this area,' he thought grimly. 'Because something else owns this territory. And it starts with the flowers.'
