Sera pouts, arms crossed, her sword dragging lazily through the leaf-littered path. "It's not fair," she mutters. "Ka'Lula's too powerful."
Veena strolls beside her, chuckling softly. "Would you rather be the one elbow-deep in zombie guts?"
"Maybe," Sera grumbles. "At least then I wouldn't feel useless."
Behind them, the forest groans with the eerie weight of undead magic. The thick fog curls around gnarled tree trunks like the breath of ancient ghosts. Penelo clings to Pip's arm, peeking over his shoulder and yelping every time something twitches in the mist.
"Zombie!" she squeaks.
But nothing ever gets close. Not with Ka'Lula skipping ahead, humming happily, wings fluttering, as she spits torrents of fire that turn every shambling corpse into instant kindling.
"I'm helping!" she calls back cheerfully as another tree catches fire.
"Careful!" Veena barks. "You'll light the whole forest up!"
Ka'Lula shrinks a little, her horns drooping. "Oops…"
