The Hidden Ally
The silver-gold figure stood unmoving, its light neither blinding nor warm, but heavy, pressing into the chest like gravity itself. Ridge’s claws dug into the twisted earth, his senses straining. Every instinct screamed that this was no ordinary being. Not mortal. Not spirit. Something older, something eternal.
Aria’s glow flared, but even her silver energy seemed dim against the figure’s radiance. “Ridge… do you… do you feel that?” she whispered, voice trembling. “It’s… it’s watching us. Studying us.”
Ridge nodded, growl rumbling low in his chest. “Yes… and it knows more than we do. Whatever this is… it isn’t just powerful. It’s ancient. Older than the Moon Well. Older than the shadows we’ve faced.”
The figure spoke again, its voice calm yet layered with authority and
