The ground trembled.
The movement was deep and rhythmic, rising from somewhere beneath the ash field. Grey powder vibrated around their feet, and the purple sky seemed to shudder with it.
Balthazar felt it first.
"Spawning," he said.
His voice was flat and grim, the voice of a man who had felt this exact tremor before and knew what it meant. His earth-channeling gauntlets hummed as he dropped to one knee and pressed both palms against the ash.
The ground answered. Vibrations traveled through his hands, through the gauntlets, and into his Rank 4 senses. His body interpreted the information faster than words could describe it.
"Multiple signatures."
He stood, his scowl hardening.
"We need to leave. Now."
The ash field behind them was shifting. Shapes moved beneath the powder, pushing upward and disturbing the grey layer in branching patterns that looked like veins spreading through a leaf. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds.
