Cresty slid down the rubble, her boots scraping against broken stone as she descended from the remains of the building. Dust clung to her clothes, but she barely noticed it. Her eyes continued scanning the destroyed town, searching for anything that might explain what had happened while she was gone. Once she reached the ground, she approached the nearest person she could find and asked, "What's happening?"
The man she asked looked at her with confusion before glancing over her clothes. "You must be an outsider."
Cresty didn't respond. Her attention remained fixed on him, waiting for an explanation.
The man looked toward the ruins surrounding them before speaking again. "A Grandmagus had died."
Cresty's eyes shrank to a dot.
Her expression went completely blank for a moment, as though her mind had refused to process what she had just heard.
"A... Grandmagus?"
The man nodded.
Cresty's heart began pounding.
There were three Grandmagus she had seen here.
