The expedition pressed deeper inland after lunch, the landscape shifting from rolling dunes to jagged azure-laced spires jutting from the sand like fractured glass. The further they went, the more unnatural the terrain became—twisting rock formations crackling faintly with static, strange humming vibrations pulsing beneath their feet.
Then, the ground trembled.
A brief but unmistakable quake rippled through the sand, sending loose pebbles skittering down slopes. A few adventurers stumbled, gripping their weapons instinctively. Rachel snapped her staff up, scanning the horizon.
No attack came. No monsters burst from the shadows. Just an unsettling silence stretching too long.
"Just tectonic movement?" Vera, a young caster, asked, trying to sound casual.
