Kora’s POV
The air in the Vale was different at dawn—still, heavy, but alive. The light didn’t rise like it did in the world beyond the gate. Here, it bloomed. Gold seeped out of the ground, running along the glowing veins of the earth, up the trunks of trees, until the entire forest glimmered softly like it was exhaling after a long night.
I sat alone by the river, my legs folded beneath me, the water whispering quietly at my feet. I hadn’t slept. Not really. My dreams had been loud again—voices I couldn’t place, flashes of the woman made of light who called me her echo. I tried to shake her off, to separate myself from her, but she was threaded through me like breath through lungs.
Edward had stayed close most of the night, silent as always, his presence a steady warmth behind me. But
