~Laurent
The forest was restless tonight.
Leaves whispered against each other as though something beneath them was listening back. I adjusted my grip on the map, its edges glowing faintly where the ink pulsed with residual mana. The route it traced cut through the Verdant Forest like a scar — deliberate, clean.
Denzel followed behind me, his steps careful but heavy. He kept glancing around like the trees might turn on him.
“You’re sure this is the place?” he whispered.
“Yes.” I didn’t lift my eyes from the map. “If Calen’s people are hiding in this location, this is where they’d be.”
The map shifted slightly as I focused my heightened senses.
Faint threads of dark light bled out from the parchment, marking the path like veins under skin. The forest ahead dimmed in response.
We move
