Aria’s POV
It took seven days for the ridge to settle.
It took eight for something to test it.
I was at the second node when it happened. Coren and I were checking the ward-glow at dawn, marking the pulse on the chalkboard like we’d been doing all week. The rhythm was steady. Patient. The Warden’s breathing.
Then it stuttered.
One beat off. Like a skipped heartbeat.
Coren’s head snapped up. “You feel that?”
“Yeah,” I said. My hand was already on my blade. “Not the Warden.”
The air changed. Colder. Sharper. Not the deep, old cold of the Warden. This was newer. Hungry.
From down the tunnel came a sound I hadn’t heard since the Debt died.
Scratching. Claws on stone. Fast. Desperate.
“Something woke up down there,” Coren said quietly. “Something that wasn’t suppo
