A dark blue ray tore across the night sky above Godfall, searing the darkness with an unnatural, frigid glow. In its wake, the entire kingdom froze. Every soul—man, woman, child, even the stray dogs in the alleys and the birds wheeling overhead—stood petrified, locked in the exact pose they had held when the light struck. Petrified sparrows and crows plummeted from the heavens, striking rooftops and cobblestones with sharp, brittle cracks that echoed through the silence like breaking glass.
Captain Rosewalt stood at the inn's upper window, unable to blink, his eyes wide with horror at the sight of living statues below. Fury surged through him, hot and helpless.
"Who the hell would unleash a curse this dangerous in the middle of a town?" he snarled, clenching his fists until the knuckles whitened.
"What a reckless move," Sango remarked, his voice calm, almost detached, as though the devastation were a minor curiosity rather than catastrophe.
"In my town, damn it!" Rosewalt roared. He drove his fist into the wooden wall beside the window; the impact splintered the timber and sent a shudder through the frame.
"Sango," he said after a ragged breath, forcing himself to turn from the window, "I can see that Tayo and Bachi aren't affected by the curse."
Sango glanced at the two boys still sleeping peacefully on their beds, untouched by the blue light's malice. A wide, almost hysterical grin spread across his face, threatening to erupt into laughter.
"What did I tell you? Those two are special."
Rossewalt shook his head, returning his gaze to the frozen streets. "I haven't seen a curse like this in years… especially not on this side of the world."
"Nor have I," Sango admitted, moving slowly to stand beside him at the window. "Not at this magnitude."
Rossewalt's eyes narrowed as he studied the petrified figures more closely. "They aren't just frozen."
Their life forces… they're being drained, he realized with a chill that settled deep in his bones.
"Their life force!" he said aloud, voice dropping into a dark, grave tone as he stared down at the motionless crowd.
"You're still as sharp as ever, Rosewalt," Sango replied, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"So what do we do?" Rosewalt demanded, urgency creeping back in. "At this rate, in less than two minutes they'll all be dead."
A deep, resonant voice suddenly boomed through the inn, powerful enough to rattle the windowpanes and shake dust from the rafters.
"Why would you say such a thing when you know I'm here?"
Sango's tone was calm yet utterly affirmative, carrying the unshakable weight of absolute certainty.
"As long as I stand in Godfall," he continued, "none of your townspeople will die."
Rossewalt arched an eyebrow, a wry smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Looks like you've been working on your charisma."
Without another word, the two men climbed through the open window and scaled the outer wall with practiced ease, pulling themselves onto the inn's slanted rooftop. A cool, elegant wind swept across their faces as they stood side by side, surveying the petrified kingdom beneath the indifferent moon and sun.
"Hey, Rosewalt," Sango said, his gaze sweeping the horizon. "Leave your townspeople to me. You go take care of the rebels. I hope it won't be too much for an old man like you to handle."
Rossewalt snorted, a light, almost playful edge to his voice despite the grim circumstances. "Hey now, stop belittling this old man. I may not be as capable as before , but trust me—I can still deal with one or two miscreants."
With that, he leaped from the roof, landing catlike on the street below before vanishing into the shadows, dashing south toward the source of the disturbance.
"Hey!" Sango shouted after him, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Rossewalt! Don't kill them! Offer a hand—do you hear me, Rosewalt?!"
The wind carried his words away, but Rosewalt was already gone, a fleeting silhouette against the frozen blue glow that still lingered over Godfall like a death shroud.