Ezra stared at Lanie's lifeless body, a hollow ache knotting inside him. He felt helpless, his thoughts a desperate scramble for meaning.
Ricardo's raw, guttural sobs echoed through the clearing. He clung to his wife with a desperation that bordered on agony.
'She's dead.'
Ezra's breath quickened. He glanced from Ricardo to the girls being dragged away by cultists.
"M-Mommy! Mommy, wake up!"
"Daddy, please wake mommy up and help us!"
Their desperate, piercing cries sliced through the chaos, demanding to be heard above the madness.
Ezra turned his head toward Kaelis.
Kaelis was still fighting, his sword flashing as he blocked the cultists' attacks from every direction. He likely hadn't seen what had happened.
Everything had become a mess.
Ezra's sense of helplessness grew in the chaos, pulling his attention inward for the first time in a long while.
His ears rang. The noise in his mind was deafening; he struggled to think.
