The pain was becoming unbearable for me. It was like something was crawling under my skin, trying to break out, yet at the same time, something was pressing down on my chest so heavy that I couldn’t breathe. My paws trembled slightly on the cold ground of the cave. Limene shifted inside me, restless, her fur bristling, her instincts sharper than mine.
I felt it again—that strange presence. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t smell it properly, but I could feel it. Like eyes that refused to blink. Like a shadow that refused to move away. It wasn’t close enough to touch me, but the horror it carried pressed into my bones. Limene’s low rumble echoed in my head, a soft warning that she also sensed it.
“It seems far,” she whispered into my thoughts, “but don’t let your guard down.”
I was tired. To
