Chapter 038
Emilia's POV
The night closes in, oppressively dense. It's the quietest I've ever experienced. It feels wrong for the first time, and it's heavy, encircling me like a suffocating blanket. I'm wrong in a way that makes me feel deeply twisted. Something is approaching, but I'm not sure if that's a warning or just my intuition taking over. Something hazardous.
My body is immediately on alert as I wake up gasping for air. I'm tense, awake, and buzzing all over. Then I sense the chill in the air. The Ash-Born is standing at the edge of the room, and I blink, shoving my tangled hair out of my face. I feel cold.
He is no longer a shadow. The boy with the anger and fire in his eyes is no longer there. He is, instead, eerily serene. The stillness in him is like the calm before a sto
