As Tygari and Lorka reach the edge of Amara's village, they stop, faces pale with horror. The forest path that once led to the bustling village is now eerily silent, overtaken by a thick, sour stench. Where houses once stood, twisted earth and broken beams jut out from mounds of fresh dirt, the beginnings of an expanding network of tunnels snaking across the land.
Tygari's jaw clenches as he surveys the ruins. "They've taken everything," he says, his voice low and trembling with restrained rage. "They're claiming it…"
Lorka takes a step forward, as if to venture closer, but a movement beneath the churned-up ground stops him. He watches, horrified, as one of the Grimcrawlers emerges, its antennae twitching as it senses the area. It seems even larger than the one Kovar and Miro killed, its exoskeleton gleaming in the dim light, hardened and unyielding.
