The heavy oak doors of my chambers clicked shut, leaving me in the silence of the bathing room. The maids had done their work well; the water was steaming, fragrant with dried lavender and crushed mint. I stripped out of my traveling clothes, stepping into the tub as the heat bit into my aching muscles.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head against the porcelain rim. The events of the past few days replayed behind my eyelids in a chaotic blur—Draven's suffocating, toxic green aura in the lawless zone, the terrifying name D'ath that made Elara turn away in dread, and the cold, blue system warning still burned into my memory. A critical ambush was coming. No time, no location, just a looming threat designed to shatter the plot.
