In the dim light of the tent, the humanoid doll sat slumped in the corner, its porcelain-like face cracked and lifeless.
Though it didn't move, didn't breathe, something about it made the hair on the back of Kyle's neck stand up.
It was as if all the strings that had animated it just hours ago had been sliced away, leaving an eerie stillness in its wake. But even without motion, the thing watched. Or… waited.
Kyle's sharp eyes narrowed. The divine mana that had once cloaked the puppet was fading fast, evaporating into the surrounding air like steam, revealing a strange, almost pulsing undercurrent of energy beneath it.
Not divine. Not human. Something… other.
"Melissa. Bruce. Do you feel it too?"
Kyle said without looking away.
Bruce, leaning against the tent pole, crossed his arms and frowned.
"Yeah. It's… not like anything I've felt before."
Melissa, who had instinctively stepped a few paces away from the doll when they returned, nodded, arms tightly folded.
