Malva didn't realize she was alone at first.
She had been walking two steps behind Leo, her cold black eyes scanning the ground for cracks, her Void mana humming quietly under her skin. But as she passed under the shadow of a broken stone arch, the thick purple mist rolled in like a wave, swallowing sound and light in a single beat.
The mist didn't just block sight, it swallowed sound, weight, and direction. Her dark eyes narrowed as she looked around. Leo was gone. The ruined street ahead was gone. There was only the swirling, silent fog and the cold stone beneath her boots.
She raised her hand, ready to use her Void affinity to track Leo's mana through the distortion—
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Slow, steady footsteps echoed through the mist ahead of her.
