The world was healing, but Isla knew better than to believe it was whole again. The land was scarred, the people forever changed, but the darkness that had once been the Rift's influence still lurked in the corners of their world. It wasn't gone, not entirely. It was simply waiting.
She stood at the edge of the Black Hollow, gazing out over the ruins. The Hollow had been a place of unimaginable power, and now it was nothing more than a shadow of its former self, a wound in the earth. The Rift was sealed, but there was still an echo—a faint hum of something ancient that could not be easily forgotten.
Beside her, Dante was as quiet as she was, his gaze fixed on the horizon. His presence was a constant source of comfort, but even he couldn’t hide the unease that had crept into his expressio
