As the small vanguard halted, the reality of their situation pressed down on them. The momentum of the forest's destruction was no longer a distant threat; it was a physical presence that rattled their bones.
If it weren't for the reinforcements of veteran warriors who had rallied to their side, the group would have been overrun long ago.
Now, standing at the edge of the true killing field, the exhaustion began to settle in, accompanied by the suffocating weight of impending mortality.
William's sudden command to stop brought a jarring silence to the group. The young masters stood with ragged breaths, their eyes reflecting a cocktail of adrenaline-fueled rage and paralysing terror.
They were staring into the mouth of a catastrophe that was reshaping the geography of their homeland, and the psychological burden felt like a physical weight on their chests.
"It's time for you to know what we are doing here," William stated.
