Aurenya’s POV
The space between us bent.
Not slowly.
Not gently.
Like reality had finally decided it was tired of holding the line.
The air in the clearing thickened until breathing felt wrong.
Heavy.
Sharp.
Every inhale scraped through my chest like the world itself was resisting what was happening.
Rhydan tightened his grip on me instantly. “Aurenya—don’t you dare go toward it.”
But I wasn’t moving.
Not physically.
Something inside me was.
The bond didn’t feel like pain anymore.
It felt like gravity remembering its direction.
The shadow figure stood motionless at the edge of the clearing, silver mist twisting around its feet like living smoke.
Watching.
Waiting.
Patient in a way that made my skin feel too tight.
Like it knew time had already chosen a side.
Arinya’s vo
