The man's eyes skimmed over the note once more, then
CRACKLE!
CRACKLE!
Blue sparks flared to life around the man, dancing wildly in the air Then, in a single, dizzying blink, the man was gone—vanished entirely, as though the very air had swallowed him whole.
The knight, oblivious to the spectacle, continued his steady march toward the gate, not even pausing for a moment. He was so close to the man when the event occurred, just a few paces away, but he felt nothing.
The same went for the other caretakers of the garden. None of them had seen the man disappear. Their eyes remained fixed on their tasks as if nothing unusual had happened. But Ashok had witnessed everything because his focus was fixed on the man.
