The shadow spread across the hot sand, crawling like a living thing as it devoured the remains of the dead.
Damon's face was slightly pale, but he did not forget to let Lyn and Sithara extract the mana cores.
The two children hurriedly knelt beside the corpses, hands moving with practiced urgency as they pried the glowing cores free and packed them into their bags. Their movements were quick, almost reverent, as if afraid the desert itself might steal the prize if they lingered too long.
Damon glanced back at Matia.
She stood with her sword raised over the rattling form of a skeleton that had crawled up from beneath the sand. Without hesitation, she brought the blade down in a single, clean sweep.
The skull separated from the spine and rolled across the dunes before dissolving. Damon's shadow surged forward, swallowing the remains before they could even hit the ground.
Damon exhaled slowly.
