The Sunken Grottos fell silent, save for the grisly sounds of the harvest. Alaric's team worked with practiced efficiency now, stripping the monstrous corpses of anything valuable under the watchful, approving gaze of their leader. The sheer volume of slain Sea Monsters – well over five hundred bodies littering the mudflats and staining the grotto pool – was a testament to their coordinated assault and Alaric's decisive intervention.
While Lyra, Cassandra, and the others focused on extracting cores, durable hides, venom sacs, and other potentially useful monster parts, Alaric assigned a specific task to their newest, somewhat reluctant, addition.
"Shaila," he called, approaching the Oasis Witch where she stood slightly apart, observing the cleanup with a mixture of numbness and lingering grief. The raw vengeance achieved, she seemed adrift, her purpose fulfilled yet leaving a void.
