As Kai leaned back against the wall, his broken right arm resting uselessly across his lap, he felt something shift.
A faint sound.
A creak.
A rattle.
His eyes snapped open.
Across the ruined square, the archer corpse twitched. Its blackened fingers spasmed, its head gave a violent, jerky twist, and then —
It moved.
Kai's breath hitched.
Next to it, the larger charred warrior they'd downed earlier — the one with the greatsword — shuddered once, its ruined chest rising faintly. Bones creaked. Its splintered ribs began pulling back together, black tendrils of corrupted mana weaving between the broken gaps.
"…Kathlyn."
Kai's voice was barely a whisper.
She forced her eyes open, blinking slowly, her body still trembling from the aftershock of Burning Heart.
"…What?"
"Look."
She followed his gaze —
and her breath froze.
More shapes were rising.
From the rubble.
From the ground.
From the shadows.
