Chapter 107: Whispers of a Plague

The aftermath of the battle left Valoran shaken to its core. Fires smoldered in the city square as citizens worked tirelessly to extinguish the blazes and tend to the wounded. The grotesque bodies of the cursed creatures lay in heaps, their tar-soaked forms still faintly smoldering, filling the air with a suffocating stench.

James stood in the castle's war room, a map of Erodus spread out before him. The room was crowded with his wives, trusted advisors, and a handful of refugees from the cursed lands who had arrived just before the attack. Among them was Lila, the halfling rogue, who perched on the edge of a chair, nervously fidgeting with a dagger.

"This isn't isolated," Emilia said, her silver hair braided tightly as she traced the rivers on the map. "The blood-tainted water will spread downstream, infecting every settlement it touches. It won't be long before we have more of those things rising from the dead."