*Back to Present
Jinn approached the edge of Zendrell's eidra cage, his eyes scanning the crimson haze that shimmered above like flickering embers.
The barrier slowly dissipated into the air, the crimson particles drifting upward like sparks from a dying fire, and from the clearing mist, Zendrell's towering figure came into view—still and unmoving at the center.
Jinn's boots stepped forward, each one
*crunching
softly against the cracked and broken floor, and his eyes shifted downward.
There, sprawled in two separate parts, was the body of Jirael.
Her head lay only a short distance from her corpse, both drenched in pools of thick, black corrupted blood that soaked into the fractured stone beneath.
Zendrell didn't move at first, but the soft crunch of Jinn's steps made him turn.
His gaze locked with Jinn's, serious at first—but then a familiar smirk slowly curled onto his face.
"Took you long enough," Zendrell said, his voice deep and steady.
