Julian stared into the dark, rain-swept jungle, the acrid scent of corrupted Aetherium still clinging to his nostrils. Liam’s pale, shell-shocked face was a stark image against the gloom. The Konsili Bayangan had delivered their message with brutal efficiency. Their presence was a living, breathing threat, closer than Julian had dared imagine. His arm throbbed, a cold, dead burn where the corrupted whip had struck him. He pushed the pain down, along with the fear.
One day later, the relentless monsoon had eased, replaced by a humid, suffocating stillness. The remaining Ravenscroft trucks, carefully repaired and stripped of non-essential weight, had ferried the team to the designated drop-off point, a small, remote village teeming with the vibrant chaos of local life. Liam, surprisingly, h
