Hours after Soren had left…
The cave had fallen silent.
The campfire was dead now. It had been reduced to a ring of dying embers that barely glowed against the stone walls.
Even smoke rose no more.
Of course, the warmth that had once filled the cavern was gone, leaving only cold and the heavy stench of blood.
The three bodies lay where they had died.
Vinegar sat against the wall, her knees drawn tightly to her chest. Blood clung to her clothes, stiff and cold. Her fingers were numb, her body trembling uncontrollably as she tried to keep what little warmth remained.
But her eyes—they were open. They were... empty.
Then she heard it.
A soft whistle echoing through the cave.
Light shifted.
It was bright, but wrong. It looked as if the darkness itself bent aside.
Footsteps followed after, unhurried and deliberate, approaching from the mouth of the cave.
A figure finally emerged from the shadows.
