I woke to pain.
It wasn’t sharp at first — just a deep, grinding ache that seemed to exist everywhere at once. My body felt impossibly heavy, as though the earth itself had decided to keep me. When I tried to move, my limbs barely responded, numb and weak.
Cold seeped into my bones.
I opened my eyes to a pale grey sky filtering through the trees. Morning had come quietly, without ceremony. The forest around me was still, mist curling low over the riverbank where I’d collapsed.
For a moment, I couldn’t remember where I was.
Then it all rushed back.
The stake.
The hunt.
The woman in the hood.
The voice that wasn’t a voice.
Fear jolted through me, sharp enough to cut through the haze. I pushed myself upright — and cried out as fire lanced through my side.
My vision swam.
I looked
