sleep t

t his face, but the way he had been left there deliberate, intentional

, quiet steps, doors opening, low voices murmuring through walls too thin to keep

begun w

loor. My chest still felt tight, as if the forest had reached insid

e wak

ated in my head,

I wasn't glowing. I wasn't st

slightly out of place, and no matter how hard I tr

int, exhau

the narrow window. For a moment, I forgot where I was. Then I heard

ly and stepped

ouse felt

like befor

ed sentences, maps spread across tables, fingers tracing paths through fami

house, grinding herbs into a stone

sleep eith

softly. "N

oing after

rols are doubled. Borders reinfo

hat e

ing is enough when the f

t make me

ide was sharp, cold enough to sting my lungs. I followed the path t

ar as I was s

yed a

boundary this tim

st watch

g I stood there befor

soil than the others, longer, heavier. No

ering just above the ground. The earth f

d my ha

was

la

urn

le. He looked exhausted, tension carved into

ngs that make my jo

oss the line

said quietly. "You're al

eet. "You told

es

sta

otic

spoke. The forest loomed b

pens now?

cks, then back to me. "Now you

, the cost mad

ed with

owed by the unmistakable sound of chaos. Shouting. Foo

the noise wit

rought som

clothes. He was alive, barely, chest rising in shallow, uneven breaths. De

e ridge," someone sa

steady as he assessed the damage.

t a ripple th

did he?"

ed up at

it wante

t loud, but I saw

d open, unfocused and t

r before anyone

ou see?" I

hed, clutching we

he whi

m went

l f

" I br

panic rising in his voic

slowly. "Th

was t

of eyes t

my heart pounding.

the room," Kael sai

't do a

ly the proble

, body arching violen

st

ed into motion. Orders barked. Doors sla

me," she sa

ar the tree line. Inside, the air smelled of herbs and smoke.

more," Lyric said on

e," I replied, m

yes sharp. "No. Y

wh

ted. "By i

tretched

about me no

es

tever's

w you

, Kael cam

dn't

have listene

. "You just didn't tell m

"Hunting doesn't kill randomly.

d n

locking onto mine, "it's de

d low in m

s it want

what happens when the forest

allo

trees creaking as though

ke long afte

beneath the fear,

somethi

tarted this wa

t Valley had just made