For generations, the residents had lived in harmony with the , a rich, dark earth that pulsed with a faint, low-frequency hum. But today, the hum had shifted into a rhythmic, mechanical thud. From the Great Crevice at the center of the valley, the first plumes of the Dark Smoke began to rise.

Kaelen stood on the ridge, his lungs burning. In SoilyQue, the earth was supposed to be the source of life, but now it felt like the land was exhaling a long-held poison. As the smoke touched the edges of the village, the vibrant blues and purples of the flora flickered and died, leaving behind nothing but .

The smoke began to coalesce into shapes—shadowy, towering figures that mimicked the trees they had just extinguished. They weren't ghosts, but of the land’s own fever.

The sky over didn’t just turn grey; it turned heavy.