**Kelly Thompson's POV** The Seed's song is a liar. It hums through the fortress walls, a melody of false peace. The Forgotten rebuild, their laughter too sharp, their eyes too bright. Even the air feels staged, like a predator holding its breath. Veyra watches me now-not with trust, but calculati
**Kelly Thompson's POV** The fortress isn't a sanctuary-it's a *cage*. The black oak's roots coil around the crystalline walls like serpents, their thorns dripping a viscous sap that smells of Eden's blood. The Forgotten have carved their homes into the tree's flesh, their laughter echoing through
**Kelly Thompson's POV** The new world isn't just alive-it's *hungry*. Crystalline trees shiver as we pass, their songlike hums sharpening into dissonant shrieks when the Hunter's shadow grazes their roots. Rivers of liquid memory churn with faces I don't recognize-soldiers, lovers, children-all m
Eden moves faster than thought, tearing the vines apart. The Forest shrieks, trees bending toward us, leaves aimed like daggers. *"Foolish boy,"* the Rootmother hisses. *"You'll doom us all!"* "Maybe," Eden says, static crackling in his palms-*his* static, gold and wild. "But I'm done letting gods
**Kelly Thompson's POV** The void isn't empty-it's *judging*. Eden stands before us, haloed by a light that doesn't cast shadows. His scars are gone, his eyes the stormlit blue they were before the crown, before the Silence carved him hollow. But the air around him thrums with a tension that makes
**Kelly Thompson's POV** The new song isn't a song-it's a *snare*. The note lingers, a silver thread in the air that hums with Eden's timbre, Eden's pain. I follow it, the static in my veins pulsing like a compass needle. The Hunter trails behind, his breath uneven, his crow-feather coat singed an