Cut to: Graveyard Outskirts
Kael guided Ignis over the ashen hills and broken mausoleums at the edge of the town. Below, where once must've rested a thousand bones, the ground was… all seemed like they got dug out. It was too messy.
No skeletons. No rotting limbs. Or signs of conflict.
Kael's eyes narrowed, senses sharp. Something was wrong, a Tier-8 aura pulsed faintly from the still mists around the headstones.
He raised a hand to signal Ignis to slow. That's when…
Fffft!
A blur cut through the wind, a razor-thin arrow of light flying straight at his chest. Kael's instincts flared. He tilted aside, letting it pass him…
Except it didn't go past.
It disappeared an inch from contact, as though the air itself swallowed it.
"What the…" Kael's gaze snapped toward the distant mausoleum rooftop.
