Callie’s POV
We left the territory shortly before dawn.
And even though for weeks I had imagined what it would be like to leave that place — escaping, running, fleeing once again toward somewhere unknown while everything collapsed behind me — the reality ended up being far quieter than I expected. There were no immediate chases. No enforcers blocking our path or shouted orders cutting through the forest. Only the damp sound of early morning stretching between the trees as we slowly descended the outer trails of the territory, moving farther away from the black corridor and from whatever still slept beneath the stone.
Or was trying to awaken.
The thought remained lodged inside me like a thorn impossible to ignore.
The corridor.
The black water.
The eyes opening beneath the surface.
