UNKNOWN POV
The c***k in the portal breathed like a living wound. I could feel it from the mountain. The energy was beaconing, but unyielding. It was becoming unstable and dangerous.
I stood at the mountain’s edge, looking out over the lush forest below our hideout. My hands were folded behind my back as I felt the air pulse in slow, uneven rhythms, like the world itself was struggling to keep its balance. The portal was ancient, older than the town and even the forest that pressed against our borders. No one had ever come this close to tipping the power toward darkness. I was sure other magical beings nearby would start to sense the shift. The magic called to me, humming in my veins, pulling at the instincts that had kept me alive through centuries of bloodshed and betrayal.
But now, a
