The mist had thinned, but the forest remained unnaturally still. No wind stirred the branches overhead. No birds sang. The silence was worse than the drums.
Aric knelt on the scorched earth, his body trembling from exhaustion. The sword lay at his side, its black fire finally gone, leaving the steel dull and dark. Smoke drifted from the charred ground where the Hunters had fallen to ash.
He felt hollow. Empty. As if part of him had burned away with them.
The girl crept closer, her eyes wide, glistening with tears. She didn’t touch him, not at first. She only watched, torn between fear and need.
When her trembling hand finally reached for his sleeve, Aric almost flinched away. But she only whispered, “You came back.”
His throat was dry. His voice cracked when he answered. “Did I?”
---
