Giant mouths surrounded the town like a living cage.
They pulsed slowly, opening and closing as thick red liquid dripped from their lips and slid down the walls like glowing blood. The light they gave off painted the entire square in a sickly crimson hue, turning familiar faces into warped silhouettes. Every breath tasted metallic, heavy, as if the air itself had been chewed and spat back out.
Adventurers reacted first.
Spells flared. Fireballs, wind blades, shards of ice, arcs of lightning slammed into the walls from every direction. For a heartbeat, it looked like resistance was possible.
Then the mouths laughed.
They opened wider and swallowed the attacks whole. Flames vanished between rows of teeth. Lightning crawled across tongues and was absorbed. Blades met enamel-hard fangs and were stopped cold, sparks flying as steel screeched against something far stronger than stone.
