: The feeling of being cut off from the outside world.

Elias, the town’s oldest scout, stood by the north wall. He remembered the old stories of "spectre leaguers"—armies of mist that vanished only when faced with absolute resolve. He didn't have a silver bullet, but he had a bell.

He began to ring it. Not a frantic alarm, but a steady, defiant toll. One by one, the villagers came to their doors. They didn't have weapons, so they brought lanterns. They didn't have a plan, so they began to sing.

Inside the town hall, the elders argued over dwindling grain. Outside, the children had stopped playing, their laughter replaced by the low, rhythmic drip of condensation from the eaves. This was the true nature of a force: it did not always strike with a hammer; sometimes, it simply refused to leave, waiting for hope to erode.