The mountains rose before us, jagged and ominous, their peaks lost in swirling mist. They were an imposing sight, even in the full light of day. The village behind us, with its eerie silence and darkened windows, had left a bitter taste in my mouth, and the weight of the crystal against my chest had only grown heavier with every step we took away from it. Something was watching us. I felt it like a prickling at the back of my neck, a low hum of awareness that refused to dissipate.
Raven walked beside me, her steps confident, but I could see the tension in the way her eyes scanned the landscape, never lingering in one place for too long. Leif led the way, his hand never far from his sword, and Zara, ever the observer, walked in silence, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. We had barely spoken since leaving the village, and the unspoken tension between us only seemed to deepen as the hours passed.
