(Somewhere within the mountainous interior of Planet Tithia)
After disembarking the ship, Leo was wordlessly escorted away, flanked on either side by unfamiliar guards whose eyes betrayed a strange blend of weariness and reverence.
Their expressions hovered somewhere between cautious respect and quiet fear, as if unsure whether to salute him or arrest him.
The Twelfth Elder walked just ahead, offering no explanation and no words, his silence as deliberate as it was oppressive.
Their route wound through multiple checkpoints, each more fortified than the last, with layers of magical wards, sentry constructs, and elite personnel standing watch, as eventually, they boarded a hovercraft that veered off the main path and entered a concealed passage carved between the mountains.
It was only then that Leo began to grasp the gravity of where they were going, for the terrain they travelled through now became eerily silent.
