Before he could finish what he had begun to say, a sudden sound broke through the tunnel entrance, one eerily similar to a metal can rolling across stone, and every head snapped toward it at once, alarm flooding each of their expressions.
"Lioren..."
"I do not know," he responded to Azriel, his eyes never leaving the darkness ahead.
The sound persisted, continuous and unplaceable, its source still hidden, and it kept every one of them on edge with weapons drawn. Azriel held his gun in one hand and his katana in the other, the insufferable feather resuming its perch in the air above him.
"What is that sound?" Yelena asked. "Is it the Monarch? But why would it be making a noise like tha-"
"It is not the Monarch. The creature fell asleep, quite suddenly, while I had it pinned beneath my unique skill."
"Huh? But how? What exactly does your unique skill do, to put something like that to sleep?" Lumine asked.
