Rebecca’s POV
The chanting started long before we saw anyone.
Low, rhythmic and ancient chants.
It sounded through the fog, rising and falling in a language I didn’t understand but somehow felt. The moment it began, the forest changed. I didn't see the birds again, they had somehow disappeared, even the insects fell silent. The wind was blowing absurdly too.
Every instinct in me screamed that something was wrong.
Very wrong.
We had not even made it outside the shrine much when the mist thickened around us, covering the trees one by one such that they were hardly visible again. I tightened my grip on the strap of my pack for a reason I myself did not know.
The mark beneath my shirt started once.
Then it happened again, warmer this time.
Almost... aware.
"Tell me I'm not the only
