Elaris
The silence of the Dead Zone was not just empty; it was predatory. As we pushed deeper, the grey-scale rot didn't just cling to the trees—it began to hunt.
It didn't seek out the soldiers. They were already too far gone, their spirits hollowed out by the apathy of the zone, their eyes glazed as they trudged through the monochrome dust like ghosts of their former selves. The void ignored them; they were already erased in spirit, their internal fires snuffed out by the encroaching stagnation. They didn't feel the chill, and they certainly didn't notice the way the light seemed to bend away from them, as if they were already part of the scenery.
Instead, the rot coiled around Seth.
I watched, horrified, as the monochrome tendrils ignored my presence, whipping toward Seth with an un
