Chapter 91:
The Awakening of Shadows
Moonshadow Ridge had settled into a deceptive calm after the night of the Heart’s trial. The first morning sun stretched across the peaks, turning the frost-kissed pines to gold, and the village below stirred slowly as though nothing monumental had shifted above them. But Alexandra could feel it in every fiber of her being: the Ridge had changed. Its heartbeat was stronger, more insistent, and its energy hummed under her skin like a living thing. She carried the Heart’s secret deep within her, and with it, a responsibility that both terrified and exhilarated her.
Ethan walked beside her as they descended the hidden path back toward the village, his presence a steady anchor amid the residual energy that crackled in the air. He glanced at her, eyes wa
