As dust rose, the cavalry turned their horses and continued tracking the Drow in other directions.
The hoofbeats faded into the distance. Renato watched the white horse caparisons disappear around a bend in the road, until the last rider vanished into the shadows of the trees.
After a thorough inspection, the female Dragonborn handed the knight's badge back to Renato.
"Besides Identify, I also performed a physical scan using psionics, ensuring that this item possessed neither magical effects nor any mechanical components that could harm you..."
Renato had the [Adventurer's Guide]. If the item carried a curse, there was no way he would have missed it.
Besides, Renato had tasted no malice from Novak in the shadows. Beneath the old knight's composed exterior lay only tension and panic, with no intent to kill him.
Though the shadows exaggerated emotions and amplified negative feelings, Renato felt that this peculiar "intuition" was quite accurate, at least when it came to detecting malice.
Still, another inspection would do no harm if it put Klauthsura at ease.
Once she confirmed that everything was fine, the female Dragonborn crouched down, took out several small devices Renato could not name, and began arranging them on the ground.
Just as Klauthsura prepared to conduct a spatial survey according to their prearranged procedure, Renato could not help voicing his question:
"Klauthsura, aren't you surprised? Look around us. We seem to have returned to the Surface..."
The Dragonborn's hands moved swiftly. Various psionic runes lit up on the ground in succession, their blue-violet light weaving into an intricate pattern.
She did not even have time to open her mouth. A telepathic voice sounded in Renato's mind, utterly certain:
"Renato, this is definitely not the Surface. We have reached a demiplane, just as planned."
Renato's brow furrowed slightly. He glanced