Brielle's POV
The forest was unrelenting.
Every step felt heavier, like the earth itself was trying to swallow me whole. My legs were leaden, my knees threatening to buckle under me as I stumbled forward. My breathing was shallow, each inhale scraping against my raw throat. My stomach twisted violently, the emptiness a constant reminder that I hadn’t eaten in days.
I didn’t know how much farther I could go.
I blinked hard, my vision swimming as the world around me blurred. The towering trees swayed unnaturally, their jagged branches stretching like claws against the darkening sky. The late-afternoon light was fading fast, swallowed by the thick canopy above, leaving me in a cold, gray twilight.
A sharp snap: a branch breaking somewhere behind me,made me freeze. My head jerked up, but
