I looked ahead. Some of my loyal demons were circling a woman, trying to force her down to her knees. Her frame was slender, almost fragile at first glance, but there was something unmistakably sharp about her presence. Her features were mostly human—but not quite. Those eyes gave her away. Black sclera with glowing red pupils, flickering like dying coals in the dark. Her hair—jet black, cascading down like a curtain of midnight—framed skin so pale it looked untouched by sunlight, like moonlight carved her from porcelain.
"Hold on."
My voice cut through the rising tension with calm precision. I stepped forward. This wasn't just anyone. She had to be one of the natives, and that meant she was the key—something ancient in this broken land, a thread left behind by the past we needed to untangle.
