The roar grew louder, reverberating through the ground, until even the trees seemed to shudder. The air was heavy with an unsettling energy, a dark force that had slumbered too long, now woken by some unseen disturbance.
"Something's coming," Cruzer murmured, feeling the elemental pull within him react to the presence. His heart raced, but his stance was calm, his senses honed.
Elara's eyes glinted as she raised her staff, reaching deep within to channel Spirit Conduit. She could sense the island's essence, a protective barrier she could draw upon to strengthen them both.
"It's more than one presence. Whatever is out there… it's testing us."
They both steadied themselves as shadows began to coalesce at the edge of the clearing. Shapes emerged, monstrous and twisted, creatures wreathed in dark energy.
Their forms flickered in and out, spectral remnants of an ancient conflict, bound to the land but seething with malice.
