At first, I believed that the light was simply going out.
However, it was folding rather than fading. The world bent inward on itself like a dying flame, the trees curving, the ground stretching thin until everything shimmered, distorted. The air turned heavy, and even my breath echoed wrong, like it belonged to someone else.
"Ravenna," Behind me, Thorn said, in a low, gruff voice that was too composed for the situation. "We have to move before—"
He stopped.
Because we both knew that he had said those exact words before.
Not minutes ago. Moments.
Even down to the pause before my name and the way the ash stirred at our feet, the sound lingered.
I turned slowly. “Thorn…”
He looked as confused as I felt. “Did you hear that?”
“I heard you.” My pulse stumbled. “You said the same thing.
