The path narrowed as it descended deeper into the forest.
The air changed again.
Cooler.
Heavier.
Aurelia noticed it immediately. The deeper they moved beyond the stone clearing, the more the forest felt… deliberate. Not wild, not uncontrolled.
Structured.
As though something ancient had shaped the land long before the pack had ever claimed territory nearby.
Behind her, Mira stepped carefully over a fallen branch.
"I'm starting to miss the part where we only had to worry about council politics," she muttered.
The scarred wolf snorted softly.
"You complained about that too."
"Because it was boring," Mira replied.
She glanced ahead at the silent watcher leading them down the trail.
"This," she added, "is not boring."
Aurelia allowed herself the faintest smile.
"No," she said quietly.
"It isn't."
The path opened suddenly into a wide basin surrounded by tall stone ridges.
Unlike the earlier clearing, this place had no markers.
No runes.
No visible structures.
