The separation from Killian felt like a physical limb being torn away from my body, a raw ache that pulsed with every step I took into the unknown. But in the emerald shadows of the Forbidden Forest, there was no room for the luxury of grief. The Ancients, those silent and moss-covered guardians of the deep woods, led us deeper into the primordial heart of the Forest. We moved through suffocating tunnels of silver-tipped briars that seemed to watch us pass, and crossed ancient bridges fashioned from living, calcified bone that hummed with a low, rhythmic power beneath our paws.
Finally, the suffocating canopy of ancient trees broke away, revealing the breathtaking expanse of the Valley of Whispers.
It was a hidden, prehistoric paradise with a massive bowl carved into the earth, protect
