The fire had gone out by the time Rose stirred again.
They’d made camp just outside the silvered glade, where the trees leaned like watchers and the grass refused to grow. The air here was clearer, though it carried the weight of things that did not belong to this world. Leo sat at the edge of the warded perimeter, blades across his knees, watching shadows shift with a stare too still to be human. Alex paced—fretful and silent. And the Dragon Lord stood at the treeline, head bowed, as if listening to something that would not speak.
Rose breathed in.
Then opened her eyes.
“I saw it,” she whispered, more to herself than to the others. “What waits if I fail.”
Alex was by her side in a heartbeat. “You didn’t fail.”
“No,” she murmured. “But I’m not untouched.”
She sat up slowly. Her limb
