An Inevitable Division

They burst out of the Undawild's crumbling entrance, gasping in the stale night air as if they'd been running for hours. The group was still half-formed, stumbling into the open while Surya and Kayode shielded the makeshift stretcher. In the faint moonlight, they spread across the broken pavement—Riley bent at the knees, halberd propped against a cracked column, while Angela leaned against the wall, half-lidded but clearly rattled. Shen pressed a shaking hand to his forehead. Alexander adjusted the bandages on the unconscious miner's body.

Surya paused at the threshold, his gaze lingering on the jagged maw of the entrance. "Voss was behind us," he said, voice pitched with concern. "We didn't see him after he stayed back." The memory of Voss cutting down undead in the flicker of ashen lanterns burned in Surya's mind. A faint tremor ran through his arms, the Crimson Ash leaving him tired beyond measure.