Liora’s legs burned with exhaustion, her breaths shallow and ragged as she pushed deeper into the forest. Every step felt heavier than the last, the magic that had once sustained her now all but gone, leaving her vulnerable and drained. Her mind screamed for rest, for reprieve, but the ever-present whisper of the fae’s pursuit spurred her onward.
The trees loomed tall and twisted above her, their branches interlocking like a canopy of skeletal arms, casting long, haunting shadows that seemed to shift with every movement. The deeper she ventured into the woods, the more disoriented she became, the paths twisting and bending in ways that defied logic, as though the forest itself was alive, conspiring against her.
She stumbled over a root, barely catching herself before falling face-first i
