Kairos stood alone in the half-ruined building, a strange nausea swirling in his gut as he mulled over Ravin's words. The silence stretched, broken only by the distant creaks of the unstable structure and the low thrum of tension lingering in the air.
He felt it creep up his chest—a sensation he recognized but couldn't quite embrace. It was disappointment... and dread.
'Why the hell am I feeling this way? Am I... disappointed that I won't get to meet the shadow people? No. That mustn't be it.'
Kairos shook his head as if to clear the intrusive thought from his mind.
"Even if what you say is true," he muttered sharply, eyes narrowing, "I refuse to eat lies at the table of my enemy."
Ravin let out a low chuckle, the kind that carried both amusement and hidden venom. Slowly, he rose to his feet, brushing invisible dust from his coat with calculated ease.
