"That was only the aether core," the imposter continued, his voice dropping into a harsh, warning tone as he tucked the shimmering orb safely away inside his dark tunic. "We need two more components to complete the extraction. And let me make it abundantly clear—this is going to be a brutally tedious task. One that will likely require a very steep sacrifice."
Malaki let out a long, heavy grumble, his boots crunching against the frost as he turned his back on the obsidian threshold and began the long trudge back toward the south. "Of course it does. Nothing with Edward's name attached to it is ever simple or straightforward."
