Location: Dark Forest, Mid Ring | Doha (Lower Realm)
Time: Day 460, Midday
The forest smelled wrong.
Blood—iron-sharp and thick—mixed with something darker. Corrupted essence, maybe. The kind that clung to auraflayers like rot. Jayde pressed herself against the shadowbeast's massive flank, feeling the slow rise and fall of labored breathing. Warm fur, damp with sweat and worse things. The creature's heartbeat thundered against her shoulder—too fast, too weak.
[They can smell you, but won't challenge me.] The voice in her mind carried exhaustion like a weight. [Even dying, I'm more dangerous than you're worth.]
"You saved me." Jayde's throat felt tight. Didn't make sense, really. Why would a dying beast protect a stranger? "Why?"
[Because you were terrified.] Simple. Matter-of-fact. [And I know what it's like to run.]
