Chapter 7: The Grove of Echoes
The forest grew stranger the deeper Kairo and Kaelen ventured. The air was thick with a silver mist that clung to their skin, seeping into their clothes like damp breath. The ground no longer felt like solid earth but something softer, almost spongy, as if the land itself was alive and listening.
They had left the ashen ruins of Ashridge behind, yet the echoes of the Oracle’s voice still rang in Kairo’s mind: The Grove knows your fears.
Kairo glanced at his brother. Kaelen’s jaw was tight, his eyes scanning the shifting shadows.
“Feels like we’re being watched,” Kairo muttered.
Kaelen’s lips thinned. “We are.”
The silver mist swirled ahead, parting just enough to reveal the outline of an enormous arch of intertwined trees, their branches twisted togethe
