~ Seraphina's POV ~
The air in the forest felt different today—warmer, softer, like it was trying to tell me a secret.
Something sacred.
Something only I was meant to hear.
I shouldn’t have been here. Alaric’s warning echoed in my mind: "Don’t wander into the woods. Stay close to the packhouse."
His voice had been stern, low, with that quiet concern he thought he hid so well. But how could I stay behind when Aris was missing?
That little sunshine had darted off after a butterfly—laughing, barefoot, and fearless.
I hadn’t even thought.
I just ran.
She was only four. Just a child. And this forest… it held things darker than shadows. It's too dark for someone bright like her.
After searching for her for a while, I finally found her.
She was near the edge of a sun-drenched glade, h
