Ash's POV
I got up from the cold ground like a lifeless ghost, legs trembling so violently I thought they might give out again before I took a single step, the forest air biting deep into my skin until my teeth chattered uncontrollably, shivers racking my whole body as if the moon itself had turned against me and decided to freeze me from the inside out.
The guardian spirits had whispered instructions to me back there in the clearing, soft ancient words about surrender and letting them lead, about cracking open so the light could finally pour in, but I was way too spent and tired to even understand them at this point, the words blurring together in my exhausted mind like echoes I couldn’t catch.
My body moved on pure numb instinct alone as I stumbled out of the trees and back toward th
