The afternoon passed slowly inside the small cave, but the rain showed no sign of stopping. On the contrary. As the sun never truly visible behind the gray clouds began tilting westward, the rain only grew heavier. The drops, once already like a curtain of water, now turned into a vertical flood: water fell with such force that it hammered the muddy ground in front of the cave, creating puddles that quickly swelled into fast-flowing streams rushing down the hillside. The wind had changed too. No longer just howling gusts, but wild roars carrying leaves and small branches flying into the cave mouth like storm debris.
Sylvia stood at the cave entrance, her black cloak fluttering gently even though no direct wind touched it. Her glowing red eyes stared outward into the darkness that was swallowing the forest faster and faster. The Chain of Abyss on her wrist trembled more frequently now not as a warning of danger, but as if responding to the raw force of nature raging outside.
