Selina’s POV
The Shadow-Woods loomed ahead – a tangled, suffocating fortress of ancient iron-oaks and freezing mist. Unlike the stark, basalt ridges of the Fissures, this forest possessed a sentient quality, as if the trees themselves observed our approach with the weary, patient eyes of the old world.
The Trinity Spark, still settling into the architecture of my bones, vibrated against the ambient magic of the wood. The forest felt… hungry. It craved the warmth of the fire, the rhythm of the water, and the stability of the stone, all of which I carried within the crucible of my chest.
"They know we are coming," Finn murmured, his voice a low, gravelly vibration that barely disturbed the silence of the undergrowth. He moved with a prowling, silent grace, his amber eyes tracking movement
