The body of the saber-tooth gorilla lay still, half-buried under a pile of shattered rocks and dust. Its chest no longer rose. The eerie yellow light in its eyes had dimmed, replaced with dull emptiness.
A thick silence settled over the cave.
Only the distant drip of water and the hiss of Vael's wings folding broke the stillness.
Corrin sat slumped against a boulder, breathing hard, blade laid across his lap. His shirt was torn across the ribs, purple bruises blooming beneath his skin. Blood oozed from a gash on his brow.
Kai stood nearby, daggers still drawn, his chest rising and falling in shallow rhythms. Vex prowled beside him, shadows clinging to its fur, ever alert. Stromeon curled protectively around Kai's legs, low growls rumbling from its throat.
"I hate caves," Corrin muttered, dabbing his wound with a strip of cloth torn from his sleeve. "They always feel like the walls are watching you."
