They moved with renewed urgency, a desperate race against an unseen clock. Whisper guided them through treacherous rubble, past silent, watchful Emissaries, using every trick of shadow and distraction. Xiaochen felt the drain on his own Qi growing, the corrupted air a constant assault on his system. He suppressed a cough, forcing himself to focus.
As they skirted a collapsed building, a low, mechanical whine pierced the air. A drone. It had spotted them.
"Down!" Whisper hissed, pulling Jian into the deep shadow of a fallen wall.
Xiaochen reacted instantly, dropping behind a concrete slab, his hand on his sword. The drone, a spherical metallic orb, zipped past, its optical sensor flashing. It paused, hovering above where they had been, its sensor sweeping the area.
"It saw something," J
