The lesson was carved into the stone floor of New Eden in blood and ash.
As Hana's footsteps faded into the quiet interior of the den, the silence in the square remained suffocating.
The remaining beastfolk stood entirely frozen, their eyes wide as they stared at the gruesome scene. Kulu's talons made clean, systematic work of the remaining three scouts under his watch, the wet, heavy thuds of their bodies striking the dirt echoing like thunderclaps in the quiet morning air.
The pink mist from Raiden's tails slowly dissipated, leaving the self-inflicted ruins of the gazelle elders slumped in the dirt, their wide, dead eyes frozen in the terror of their own illusions.
Ren moved around, gesturing to Taga, and a vanguard of elite warriors to drag the bodies away and burn them.
The blood was quickly washed from the stone, but the phantom scent of Caspian's scorching draconic heat and the sharp tang of death lingered in the air long after the cleanup was finished.
