Silence. Not the peaceful kind.
The heavy, suffocating kind that hangs in the air right after the world cracks open.
Leo stood frozen, breath shaking, pupils blown wide as he stared at the place where his father had fallen. The Beastlord's blood still stained the cavern floor, bright and spreading like a crimson warning.
Amaya didn't move.
Didn't breathe.
Didn't blink.
She was afraid that if she did… the moment would break, and Leo would break with it.
The priestess's laughter still echoed through the tunnels she left behind. Her army would be regrouping, tracking, hunting.
They had seconds.
Maybe less.
But Leo didn't move.
His shoulders were rigid, his aura flickering in jagged bursts of white fire, unstable and threatening to shatter again.
"Leo," Amaya whispered softly.
He didn't respond.
