The air thickened.
A heavy, suffocating pressure settled over the clearing, weighing down on my chest.
Julien's knuckles were white as he tightened his grip on his sword, his stance shifting. Mira was just as tense, her dagger glinting faintly as she adjusted her position.
Even Felix wasn't fidgeting.
Because we all saw it.
The figure emerging from the treeline.
It wasn't… human.
Not anymore.
Tall. Gaunt. Its limbs were too long, its posture unnervingly off-balance. The skin was stretched too thin over its bones, pale and cracked, as if it had been left out in the sun too long.
But it was the eyes that sent a chill down my spine.
Empty. Hollow.
And yet… they saw everything.
"Professor…" Julien's voice was low. "What the hell is that?"
"I don't know," I muttered.
And I hated that.
In Sword of Radiance, I would've had a name for this thing. Some lore entry buried in forgotten side quests. Some hint from the devs that most players ignored.
But this?
This was new.
