Chapter 80: Unexpected Guests (2)

The mist receded in slow, curling wisps, peeling back from the clearing like a breath being exhaled. With it went the lingering weight of concealment, leaving the open field bare beneath the pale, dappled light that filtered through the canopy of trees. Shadows stretched long and thin across the uneven ground, shifting as the wind stirred the leaves above.

That was when I saw them.

Three figures resting against the thick trunk of a large tree... weathered bark stretching upward like skeletal fingers toward the gloomy sky. They had been there when we entered, their presence half-swallowed by my mist during our spar, but now, exposed, they seemed more defined.

They weren't lounging in the way careless wanderers might. Their stances, their measured stillness, the way their eyes flicked toward us with quiet calmness... it told me everything I needed to know..