Our war party of fifty warriors moved through mountain passes like ghosts in the pre-dawn darkness.
Every step forward felt like advancing deeper into enemy territory, though we'd crossed no visible borders. The air itself seemed wrong here—too thick, too charged with supernatural energy that made my teeth ache and my oracle power writhe restlessly beneath my skin.
“The magical distortion is getting stronger,” I reported to Reid as we climbed higher into the peaks. My breath formed clouds in the mountain air, but the cold I felt came from more than altitude. “Whatever they're building up there, it's affecting the natural world for miles around.”
Reid nodded grimly, his amber eyes scanning the rocky terrain ahead. “Captain Morris, what are your scouts reporting?”
“Strange phenomena incr
