Ashval's POV
GBAM!!
The shrine door slammed shut behind us with force. Dark magic. After Kaelric, Vashti, and Shabari.
They were already moving.
Then, the illusion cloaking us vanished, dissolving like breath on glass and the raw urgency in her purple eyes struck like a slap. The softness she wore before - the gentleness, the glow - was gone. In its place stood something hard. Warrior. Goddess. Command.
“Ian is in danger,” she said, voice tight as a bowstring. “You must leave now. They mustn’t reach his chamber before you do.”
I shook my head, heart pounding. “But the pelt-” My gaze darted to where the altar had once been, now sunken into the cold ground. “It’s our only chance to save Thorne-”
“Leave the pelt for now!” Selene’s voice cracked through the air like thunder. “You’ll re
