The air grew thick with mist as they followed the Echoes through the dense forest, their steps careful and deliberate. The path ahead was narrow, almost invisible beneath the thick underbrush, but Elena felt a strange pull guiding them, as though the forest itself was whispering secrets that only they could hear.
Roan walked ahead, his eyes scanning the shadows around them. He had grown quieter over the past few days, his mind clearly preoccupied with their mission. Elena couldn't blame him. Every step they took felt like they were walking deeper into a storm. The stakes had never been higher. The truth of the Inverse Mark, the mirror, the rebellion—it all felt like a whirlwind, one that threatened to tear apart everything they had ever known.
They reached the edge of the forest, where t
