Liliana - Senses corruption in the land

he reached out with a thread of magic. She—and by extension, it—had been born here, and even in its current corrupted state, the land knew her. It surged to answer her presence like a starving dog answering its master's call. She stroked it gently as she continued to reach out, enjoying the moment of connection, of familiarity, of—

Her magical thread hit a pocket of something so alien and other that it repulsed her, turning her power back on itself and pushing it away. It wasn't corruption. Liliana knew corruption. She knew what it meant when a land turned foul. It wasn't rot or decay, but it was a taint, all the same, new and horrific and ancient all at once. She pulled her power back to home and looked in the direction she had been reaching, trying to understand what it was she'd brushed against. She didn't move. For the moment, it felt as if the only safe ground she had was the ground that belonged to her family's dead.

***

HOMECOMING