Austin leaned on his walking stick as he moved forward, but after a few steps, he stopped in his tracks.
The alley wasn't long, and the parking lot could be seen after a mere few dozen steps. He had walked a few paces but found himself marking time, unable to close the distance to the exit.
Spatial Barrier!
Austin acutely sensed the anomaly around him; he had noticed it, and so had Hefei, who silently positioned his daughter behind himself for protection.
Megan stepped forward, moving to Austin's side.
At the mouth of the alley, ripples of space fluctuated, and three figures slowly materialized.
The figure in a black robe stood at the forefront, enshrouded in an unfading mist of darkness, with two red glows blooming where the face should be, obscuring the true visage.
The other two figures were clad in white magic robes, one tall and one short, and judging by their figures beneath the robes, the slightly shorter one was a woman.