Chapter 4 — Echoes of the Past

Mara

The forest had begun to change.

Mara pressed a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breaths as she and Kael trudged through the dense underbrush. The trees loomed taller here, their twisted trunks draped in veils of frost and moss that shimmered faintly under the weak light filtering through the thick canopy. Shadows stretched unnaturally long, weaving between the trunks like living things. Each step felt heavier than the last, the air thick with an unspoken presence that made her skin prickle. It was as though the forest itself was aware of them, watching, waiting.