The forest was quiet again.
Too quiet.
Smoke drifted through the tall pines where broken branches and torn earth marked the battlefield. The scent of blood still lingered in the night air, heavy and metallic.
Lena stood near the riverbank, her chest rising and falling unevenly as she tried to steady her breathing.
The silver light that had exploded from her moments earlier had vanished.
But the feeling remained.
A strange warmth hummed beneath her skin, like a sleeping storm waiting to awaken again.
Around her, the Ravenridge warriors slowly shifted back into human form.
Some groaned from injuries.
Others moved silently among the fallen rogues, confirming what they already knew.
The enemy had retreated but not because they were defeated.
They had accomplished something.
And eve
