The late afternoon sun dipped low behind the jagged mountain crags, casting long, bruised violet shadows across the sprawling grounds of the Sanatan Flame Sect. The sky burned in gradients of molten copper, pale rose, and deepening indigo, while cool mountain drafts swept through the stone pathways, rustling the high bamboo groves and carrying the dry, crisp scent of pine needles.
Despite the brutal spectacle that had shaken the arena hours prior, the life of the sect did not halt.
