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The night did not end with a final scream.
It ended with silence.
Not the peaceful kind. Not the calm kind. The kind that made your spine itch because it felt unnatural, like a predator had stopped breathing just to listen.
Sekhmet sat with his back against a cold boulder, eyes open, posture still, hands resting close to where his blood sword could form if needed. Lily slept a few steps away under her cloak, curled on her side with her sword near her hand, as if even her dreams refused to fully relax.
Woooo…
The wind moved through the dead woods in soft waves, carrying the smell of dust and old sap, and only faint traces of last night's blood. The sky above the jagged treetops had lightened from black to bruised blue.
Then came the first line of gold.
A thin edge of sunlight slid over the horizon and cut across the stone like a blade.
The sun was out.
And yet no footsteps came.
Tap Tap Tap…
None.
No kobol scrambling. No barking laughter. No hungry chorus.
