Malikye’s POV
The forest didn’t return to normal after the first trial.
Not really.
We kept walking, but something had shifted—subtle, almost invisible, yet impossible to ignore. The Veilwood no longer felt like something we were moving through.
It felt like something we were inside of.
Watching.
Listening.
Waiting.
I stayed closer to the center of the group this time, my eyes scanning the trees more carefully, my senses still heightened from whatever had just happened. The silver bracelet on my wrist dulled the intensity of the mark slightly, but it didn’t stop it.
The power was still there.
Alive.
Waiting.
“You’re quieter,” Lyra said, glancing at me as we stepped over a thick root that twisted across the path.
“I’m thinking,” I replied.
“That’s dangerous,” she said lightly.
