The forest's eerie silence was broken only by the occasional rustle of leaves, as if the trees themselves leaned in to listen to the conversation unfolding beneath their towering canopies. A few minutes had passed since Adrian's dramatic arrival, and the group had settled into a makeshift circle, each lost in their own thoughts or tasks.
Adrian stood with his arms loosely crossed, leaning casually against the trunk of a tree. His deep brown eyes, though seemingly relaxed, missed nothing as he silently listened to Aurelius and Ren, who were talking in a hushed but intense voice.
Not far from them, Eltheris stood stiffly with the other three hooded figures of the group, his emerald gaze occasionally drifting toward the unconscious girl being tended to by Aurelia and Lyra.
