AYLA'S POV
The breath of the forest hung thick with rain. The trees whispered secrets in a tongue my bones remembered but my mind struggled to name. Something had shifted. Not just in the air, not just in the valley. In me.
I walked alone.
The path between the old stone roots curved steeply downward, wet with moss and memories. Behind me, the camp still buzzed with a quiet panic they tried to call strategy. Kael had stayed behind, though every bone in his body had wanted to follow. But this part... this I needed to do alone.
The dreams had returned. Not nightmares. Not visions. It was a memory.
I saw through her eyes, the First Luna. I bled with her wounds, screamed with her fury. She had once stood where I stood now, heart split open, trying to decide what kind of monster she was willing to become.
Now it was my turn.
