The cold bite of the forest air wrapped around them as Adira pressed her back against a wide tree trunk, her breaths shallow and uneven. The quiet was disorienting after the chaos of the clearing. Every rustle of leaves, every distant hoot of an owl set her nerves on edge.
Kane knelt a few feet away, his blade still unsheathed and ready. The faint glow of moonlight filtering through the dense canopy above cast sharp shadows across his face. Finn hovered nearby, clutching his dagger with trembling hands, his wide eyes darting nervously.
"We can't stay here," Kane said after a moment, his voice low but firm.
Adira nodded, though her limbs ached with exhaustion. "They're regrouping. I can feel it."
Finn swallowed hard. "How are they even doing this? The altar's destroyed. Viktor's gone."
"Not everything died with him," Kane replied grimly. "Whatever power he awakened, it's still connected to this place. Maybe even to us."
