Soren's POV:
"I told you we should have checked Crescent City first. Melrose always talked about visiting the city if she ever left the palace." Ezra said for the 300th time in the last hour. I grumbled under my breath, the sound muffled by the squelching of thick mud that clung stubbornly to my boots with each heavy step. The air was thick with the scent of wet earth, but it did little to soothe my irritation. Ezra's incessant chatter pierced the silence like nails on a chalkboard, filling the space with his trivial nonsense that had persisted since we set off on this ill-fated journey. With every word that stumbled from his lips, my thoughts spiraled further into regret at having agreed to him joining this mission. The idea of his insufferable presence dragging out our expedition was un
