Leah Carter’s Point of View
When we returned to camp, dawn was just breaking. The forest around us was still dripping with the remnants of mist, every tree heavy with silence, but in my chest, there was only noise, echoes of what I had seen in that vision.
Kael dying beneath the Blood Tree, his blood soaking into the roots like a sacrifice. The image wouldn’t leave me, it haunted every blink.
Caleb walked ahead of us, shoulders hunched, his head bowed low. He hadn’t said a word since we left the clearing. Kael watched him closely but didn’t speak either. I could feel the distance between them, like a rope stretched to breaking.
When we reached the edge of the camp, the Oracle was waiting, her frail form was barely upright, but her eyes, those pale, knowing eyes, met Caleb’s immediately
