The early evening light cast a golden glow across Ashen Hollow, lending the town an uncharacteristic calm that felt almost like an illusion. It was the kind of stillness that came before a storm, when everything was just a little too quiet. Lena couldn’t help but feel the weight of it pressing down on her as she made her way back to the cottage.
She had just finished a grueling session with Iseult, practicing her wind magic and learning to balance the leyline’s power. Her progress was steady, but the more she trained, the more she could sense the leyline’s wild energy thrumming just beneath the surface, eager to burst free.
As she approached her door, Lena’s steps faltered. There, lying on the porch, was something that hadn’t been there earlier—a bouquet of deep red roses, so dark they w
