King crossed the room and crouched in front of Eli.
Up close, the damage was worse than the initial read.
The tears on Eli ran deeper than surface level, his skin beneath shredded in patterns that indicated multiple separate strikes rather than a single engagement gone wrong.
Eli's breathing was steady but strained, the kind of controlled inhale and exhale used in moments of excruciating pain.
"What exactly happened?" King asked.
Eli held his gaze. He tried to organize his words, then started again. "We were doing well. The quest was going clean, Maya was safe, I had good sight lines." He paused, something shifting in his expression.
"Then they came in. Several of them, all at once. Player invasion."
"Who?"
"Hunter's Association."
King kept his face still, only his eye brows twitched.
"They knew where we were," Eli continued. "Came in coordinated, not randomly. They weren't after the quest objective." He stopped again, a roughness building at the back of his throat.
