The clanking of machinery stilled. The floodlights hummed in the sudden silence. Jacob’s breath hitched as he looked up. The workers turned toward the sound, their expressions sharp with suspicion. One of them, a burly man with a thick beard, smirked. “Well, well,” he drawled. “What do we have here?”
Jacob’s fear spiked, but rage burned through it just as quickly. His hands curled into fists as he pushed himself up. “How could you do this?” His voice trembled, but the fury in it was unmistakable. “How could you destroy the forest like this?” The miners only laughed, the sound hollow and careless.