The next day,
Author
The first hunter camp burned on a Tuesday.
Aria watched it from the ridge, her black leather coat snapping in the wind, the Obsidian Lotus pin on her lapel catching the moonlight like a drop of frozen blood.
Below, the camp's wooden palisades were already collapsing, consumed by flames that burned violet from the mana-ore accelerant Leo had packed. The screams had stopped ten minutes ago. The Zodiac did not leave survivors.
"Seven guards," Leo reported, materializing from the shadows to her left. His blue eyes were flat, professional, the eyes of a man who had long since stopped counting bodies. "Three handlers. Twelve captives recovered. Two didn't make it."
"Casualties on our end?"
"None."
Aria nodded, her gold-crimson eyes tracking the last of the flames.
