What.
The information hit Noah like a ball of ice water.
Kelyss—the adventurer who'd joined his beetle hunting, who'd been genuinely excited about his products, who'd promised to return to his shop...was dead.
"Wait... what? How?"
She was supposed to come back. She was interested in buying more supplies.
"She was at the front of our group when the extremists attacked. We were lucky to escape as an Adept mage saved us before we were also killed."
The man's voice carried survivor's guilt mixed with exhaustion. His companions stood silent, their expressions confirming details too painful to repeat.
Extremists. The same bastards who attacked me and Lola.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
The question came out harsher than Noah intended, but shock was making coherent conversation difficult.
Kelyss had been alive, optimistic, and planning future hunting expeditions. Now she was gone.
