It wasn't a creature. It wasn't a shadow. It was something between the two. A figure wrapped in the absence of light, its form shifting like it wasn't entirely real. It didn't walk. It didn't move. It simply was.
And then it spoke.
**"You are late."**
The voice was wrong. Not deep, not high, not even a sound. It was something that crawled into their bones, something that existed not as words but as understanding forced into their minds.
Jude's fingers twitched. The fire inside him roared in response to the presence, but he didn't release it. Not yet.
Mira tensed beside him. "And you are…?"
The figure tilted its head.
**"That is not the right question."**
Eldara's voice was calm, but there was an edge beneath it. "Then what is?"
The figure was silent for a long moment. Then it raised one hand, a hand that wasn't a hand, a shape that twisted and blurred as it moved. It pointed at Jude.
**"You already know."**
