Location:Mid Ring, Vel'thari Containment — Tunnel Network, Patrol Route
Date/Time: 5 Sparkfall, 9942 AZI — Day 125, 240 days remaining
Realm:Lower Realm, Doha
The heat hit them first.
Not ambient heat. Not the dead spot's neutral temperature or the corruption-saturated air of the Mid Ring tunnels. This was residual essence. The thermal signature of cultivation techniques being thrown at something with force and fury and the desperate wastefulness of people who didn't know they were ringing a dinner bell with every strike.
Jayde stopped at the junction. The exoskeleton's hydraulics locked at her thought, holding her in perfect stillness. The repeating crossbow was seated against her armored shoulder. Twelve bolts in the magazine. On her hip, three siege bows waited in the ring.
