The winds of dusk rolled in heavy across the scorched remains of Banner 4E, casting long shadows over the rubble that once housed generations of aura-wielders. Fires had long been extinguished, yet the stench of burnt iron and memory still clung to the air. Thalen stood at the perimeter, the tip of his training sword buried in the cracked earth, his gaze locked on the blackened insignia of the banner's crest split clean down the middle.
Behind him, Captain Rendra knelt silently beside a fallen soldier, placing a hand over the man's still chest, muttering something beneath her breath. She rose slowly, her voice carrying across the hollow silence.
"Only one survivor… barely breathing," she said. "Everyone else was erased. Not killed. Erased."
Thalen furrowed his brow. "What do you mean erased?"
