"Anything that doesn’t explode or scream."
"Ah. So… nothing I do, then."
Lyra climbed out last, vines coiling from her wrist like cautious snakes. She touched the ground. "There’s… residue. Something *burned* here, but not by flame."
Kael crouched, touching blackened asphalt. The surface shimmered faintly, pulsing when his fingers brushed it.
Elias swore. "That’s the same stuff from the zealot pit. The melted kind."
Crimora leaned closer. "Looks like the Penitent’s corruption, but thinner… like a trail."
Kael frowned. "No. Not a trail. A spill. Someone tried to contain it."
Selvara’s claws flexed. "Contain it with what?"
Kael pointed at the faint metallic shards embedded in the ground. "Look. That’s not shrapnel. That’s… rune dust."
Lyra blinked. "Runes? As in mage-made?"
"Yeah,"
