Irina remained standing for several seconds, her arms folded across her chest as she stared toward the entrance of the cave. The information they had uncovered should have answered some of the questions surrounding Elaris, yet somehow it had only created more. Eldric had been one of the two cultivators who had fought over the village fifteen years ago. He had survived the battle, disappeared for five days, and then returned shortly after an enormous explosion had occurred beneath the town. From that moment onward, nobody had been able to leave Elaris. He had eventually become the village elder, while secretly possessing a strange fire-based suit similar to the one Voss had discovered. The pieces were beginning to connect, but Irina could not shake the feeling that there was still something fundamentally wrong with the story.
She finally turned toward Liam and Voss. "I still don't get it, though."
Both men turned toward her.
Irina's expression was serious. "Why kill the villagers?"
