But from the smoke… nothing emerged.
No clattering pursuit.
No skeletal screaming.
Just… silence.
Aria frowned. "Wait. Did it… fail?"
Then one of the sentries ambled over to investigate the crater—
—and stopped.
Because lying there, charred and motionless, was… Vex.
Or rather—a perfectly sculpted decoy of Vex.
Charcoal bones. Fake runes. A dramatically flopped pose like a theater kid playing "tragic death" for extra credit.
The sentry stared at it for a long, judgmental moment…
then shrugged and shuffled away.
And directly above it, glued to the ceiling like a flaming war-gecko, the real Vex crawled silently past.
Laxin's jaw unhinged. "It faked its own death?! It's lying with style!"
Aria slapped both hands over her mouth to stifle a squeal. "It's being sneaky!!"
Fenric's silver eyes glimmered like a disappointed star. "Acceptable initiative."
Vex slithered deeper into the maze, its flames dimmed to ember-glow. The next sentry turned a corner—
and paused.
