A few minutes passed after Casseo spoke with everyone about the approaching tide. They all went through varying expressions before their faces stopped with exhaustion and resignation.
Adults leaned against timber walls while the elderly sat on wooden benches, hands folded in their laps.
Nigen stood beside him, jaw set in grim acceptance. A Mori soldier sprawled across the ground, staring at clouds that filtered light above.
Casseo lifted his gaze to that sky, patches of grey visible between branches that had oppressed this place for three centuries. Then he turned back to the assembled townspeople and spoke, his voice carrying across the silent settlement.
"But it isn't all bad, as the Dark Silence was destroyed in the process."
Everyone froze before their heads all shifted towards him,
"Eastern Hesod is finally free."
A woman's hand flew to her mouth, and she trembled. An elderly man's eyes widened while a man stumbled before leaning on his wife.
