The wind howled in my ears as I barrelled through the forest, every ounce of my being focused on one thing—reaching my children in time. The trees whipped past me, their shadows blending into a dark blur as my heart hammered in my chest. Each heartbeat seemed to echo with the image of my children, vulnerable and unprotected. I couldn’t shake the dread that clawed at me, the gnawing fear that I was already too late.
As I neared the house, the forest seemed to fall deathly silent, as if the world itself was holding its breath. I burst through the tree line, skidding to a halt just short of the steps that led up to the porch. The house loomed before me, its dark, silent facade doing nothing to quell the panic rising in my chest. I could feel the magic pulsating in the air, an oppressive weig
