The night was restless.
Even the wind seemed uneasy, rustling through the trees with a sense of anticipation, carrying whispers of unseen forces converging on the estate. The wards I had strengthened hours earlier pulsed faintly, alert to the faintest tremor of movement, the slightest breach of intent. And yet, despite all my preparation, I felt it like something shifting deep beneath the surface.
The seal beneath my chest throbbed violently. It wasn’t pain, not exactly. It was a warning, a whisper, a resonance echoing from the core of my being, reverberating through my blood and into the air around me.
They’ve noticed.
I moved quietly through the halls, each step deliberate. Eron was still out there, somewhere in the forest, and the threads of energy I had bound around him pulsed fain
