Ellara gasped as the suffocating darkness dissolved.
She stood in the cemetery clearing once more.
The fog thicker than before, swirling like restless spirits.
A sharp, metallic scent filled the air, and she stumbled back, her breath hitching.
Her trembling eyes scanned the eerie expanse until they locked onto a figure in the distance.
It was a boy.
He stood amidst the gravestones.
His red hair vivid against the pallid glow of the moon.
His clothes, noble in design and pristine in their original state, were now tattered and stained.
The base of his neck glistened with fresh blood.
Crimson rivulets spilling down his collar and pooling at his chest.
More blood seeped from his mouth and nose.
But his face remained eerily calm, save for the piercing gaze of his red eyes that bore into her.
Ellara froze.
Her heart pounding in her ears.
The boy tilted his head slightly.
