The ground was still.
Not a breath of wind, not a sound of life—only the broken remnants of chaos whispered through the leaves. Kaen stood silently beneath the tree that once bloomed with crimson light, his hands trembling faintly.
The bodies had been taken. The elders had spoken. And yet, no one mentioned the silence.
That terrifying, all-consuming silence… right after the beast disappeared.
Kaen's fingers brushed the bark behind him—it felt colder than stone. Something about this part of the forest felt wrong, like it had lost its soul. And the strangest part? The blood marks were gone. Every trace of the attack had been swallowed by the earth.
He turned to walk away, but paused. A low pulse thrummed under his feet.
Thump.
He froze.
Thump. Thump.
It wasn't his heartbeat.
It was something beneath. Breathing.
Kaen didn't move. He simply whispered, "Someone... or something... is still here."
And behind him, beneath the ancient roots, a sliver of red blinked once—and vanished.
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