We barely made it out of the marshes.
The wind howled behind us, thick with the cries of unseen things. Mud clung to our boots as we stumbled onto firmer ground, the glowing fragment clenched in Lucas's hand. The further we moved from the Threshold, the quieter the whispers became. But something still felt…very wrong.
Lucas slowed, breathing hard. "That piece it's making hum sounds."
I turned toward him. The fragment pulsed with a pale silver light, rhythmic and slow, like a heartbeat. It looked harmless—but the magic it carried vibrated in the air like a living thing.
Then I felt it.
A sharp pain behind my eyes. My knees buckled and I fell to the ground.
"Athena!" Lucas rushed to catch me, but it was too late. The world swirled, and then darkness surged forward.
When I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the path anymore.
The world around me was strange. Warped. Silver mist floated across a blue-hued field, and above me hung not one, but two moons—one cracked and bleeding light.
