The passage narrowed until the walls brushed her shoulders. The air was heavy here, thick with a scent she couldn’t name — part smoke, part ash, part something older, almost like the metallic tang of blood left too long in the air. Her chest tightened as though the walls themselves were pressing inward, each breath a struggle against a darkness that seemed alive.
Her wolf paced inside her mind, ears flat. It knows what we fear.
Elinora tightened her grip on the token. It pulsed steadily now, warm against her palm, as if encouraging her forward. Behind her, Riven’s footsteps were silent but close; Kaelen’s shadows brushed along her back like a second presence.
The tunnel curved sharply, and when they stepped out, the world changed.
Gone was the claustrophobic stone of the Hollow — in it
