The forest should not have gone silent. Not like this. Not in this way that felt as if every sound had been held by an unseen hand and crushed out of existence. Leaves no longer rustled. Even the insects vanished as if they had fled the moment the invisible pressure rolled over the land.
Daniel felt the shift first. A faint buzzing in his bones. A tightening behind his ears. The edges of his vision sharpened until every tree trunk, every shadow, seemed too clear. Lightning flickered beneath his skin, unsure and restless.
Mira was the first to break the hush. Her breath hitched. Her eyes widened, staring at something only she could sense. Then she whispered, trembling, “It is here.”
Before Torren or anyone could ask what she meant, a soft gust moved through the clearing. It carried no sc
