The oppressive silence of the forest was broken by Lyerin's chilling laughter.
The six of them—Scarred Soldier, Younger Woman, Donovan, Theran, Miriam, and Mikhail—were frozen in fear and exhaustion, their bodies barely holding together after their desperate attempts to escape.
Lyerin loomed over them like a predator savoring its victory, his grin widening as he studied their battered and broken forms.
"Well?" Lyerin said, his voice deceptively light but carrying a cold undertone. "Didn't you hear me? Crawl."
He tilted his head, his gaze flicking between them. "You're tired, your mana is gone, your bodies are failing… but I didn't say you could stop moving. Crawl."
None of them moved.
Their minds screamed at them to obey, but their bodies refused to cooperate. The Scarred Soldier clenched his fists, his nails biting into his palms as he tried to summon the strength to defy him.