Location: Mid Ring, Dark Forest - Kameko's dying place | Doha (Lower Realm)
Time: Day 460, Late Afternoon
The forest shifted.
Jayde's head snapped up, tactical instincts screaming a warning. Heat Sense flared automatically, painting the world in thermal signatures even through her exhaustion.
Five shapes. Moving through the undergrowth. Large. Inferno-tempered minimum.
(No. Not now. Please not now.)
Tactical assessment: Five hostiles, superior cultivation tier. Current condition: critical. Defensive options: limited. Survival probability: negligible.
Reiko pressed against her, his massive form trembling. Through their bond, she felt his fear spike—raw and visceral and completely justified.
The pride emerged from the tree line like living shadows.
Five shadowbeasts, each one massive and deadly. Obsidian fur rippled with essence that made the air shimmer. Silver eyes fixed on Kameko's corpse with clinical detachment, then shifted to Reiko with predatory focus.
