Raven’s POV
We all froze. The trees shook, silver dust falling like ash. For a second, I thought it was Zylia. My heart even leaped, foolishly hoping that she’d somehow found her way back.
But then the light dimmed.
What was left behind wasn’t her.
The air buzzed faintly, humming like a living thing. The ground under us glowed, faint symbols forming in a circle before fading again. It was quiet. Too quiet. Even the forest seemed to hold its breath.
Killian stepped forward first, slow and cautious, his boots crunching on dead leaves. “It’s not her.”
Mason frowned. “Then what is it?”
The light flickered once more in the distance, soft, pale, pulsing like a heartbeat. My instincts whispered that whatever it was, it was old. Older than any magic I’d ever felt.
We moved closer.
The air
