Rhydan’s POV
“No.”
The word came out before Rhydan even thought it.
Aurenya’s hand was still wrapped around his wrist.
But she wasn’t holding him anymore.
She was holding onto something else through him.
Her gaze stayed locked on the figure at the edge of the clearing.
The one that looked like her shadow given flesh.
Whole.
Wrongly whole.
Arinya shifted slightly in front of them again, small body tense like a drawn blade. “Mama…?”
Aurenya didn’t answer.
Not immediately.
Her eyes flickered once toward her daughter—
and something soft almost broke through.
Almost.
Then the thing in the forest tilted its head.
And that softness vanished.
Rhydan felt it before anyone spoke.
The bond inside Aurenya reacted like a struck nerve.
A pulse rippled outward.
The wards screamed aga
