"A Prayer Unanswered"

Night had fallen around the cave, but the heat from the hot spring created an illusion of comfort. The group, now dressed in their battle gear, was scattered around the campfire, the steam rising in lazy spirals toward the darkness. 

Some chatted quietly, others ate their rations, but an uneasy silence hung in the air, like an invisible mist.

Leonard, sitting slightly apart from the others, felt a familiar wave of melancholy wash over him. A sense of loss, an emptiness that had haunted him since... well, since forever. He tried, in vain, to push these thoughts away.

"Is this the first time you've been here, in the Skull Volcanoes?" He asked, his voice breaking the silence, trying to distract his own mind.

Most answered yes, with expressions ranging from curiosity to apprehension. Only Mikaela answered differently.