The stillness of the morning was deceptive, a calm that masked the storm brewing beneath the surface. Gray's mind had been oscillating between two possibilities: either Vatu was feigning ignorance, pretending the supernaturals captured and killed by the army were merely a coincidence, or he was orchestrating something far more ominous.
As the earth beneath them began to rumble, Gray's worst suspicions seemed to be coming to life.
The rumbling started as a faint vibration, almost imperceptible, but it quickly grew into a menacing tremor. Gray, attuned to the slightest shifts in his environment, sensed the danger immediately. The soldiers around him felt it too, a wave of unease rippling through their ranks. Their eyes darted to the ground, instinctively sensing the threat emanating from beneath their feet.
