Chapter 7

The forest was quieter than usual at dawn, as if the world itself held its breath in anticipation. Frost clung to the undergrowth, catching the pale sunlight in ghostly glimmers as the search party made their way through the eastern ridge. Every sound seemed magnified—the crunch of boots, the soft rustle of cloaks, the distant call of a raven. Ava walked near the front, eyes half-lidded, sensing the ley lines that rippled faintly beneath the soil.

Her magic hummed low, like a song remembered from childhood—fragmented and haunting. She reached out with her senses, letting the energy of the earth guide her steps. It was faint here—scarred, broken, like nerves burned raw. Something had poisoned this part of the forest, not just magically but spiritually. Even the animals were absent, their usual signs of life missing, as if they'd fled before something ancient and wrong.

Behind her, Ashton moved with silent precision. His presence was a comfort she hated needing. Every time he came close, the bond surged—warm and fierce and unrelenting. But Ava had learned to mask the ache it left behind. She couldn't afford to be distracted now. Not when the forest whispered warnings in every gust of wind.

"This way," she said, veering left toward a rocky outcrop veined with blackened moss. Her voice was soft, but it carried the weight of certainty.

Rhian's trackers followed without question, fanning out with practiced ease. Kaelin, however, stayed close behind Ava, her steps careful but deliberate.

"You really think this invisible magic of yours is going to lead us anywhere?" Kaelin asked, her voice hushed but edged with skepticism.

Ava didn't turn. "I don't think. I know."

Kaelin huffed softly, but said no more.

They came upon a clearing, darker than the forest around it. The trees here grew warped and twisted, their bark marred by long, claw-like gouges. At the center stood a ring of stones, blackened as if scorched by fire—but Ava could feel no heat, only the echo of something long buried and wrong.

She stepped into the circle.

A jolt shot through her—pain, ancient and hollow. Her knees buckled slightly, and Ashton was there in an instant, catching her before she hit the ground.

"Ava," he breathed, his hands tight on her arms.

"I'm fine," she said through clenched teeth. "It's... old magic. Dead magic. This place was a sanctum once. Now it's been corrupted."

The moment stretched between them—Ashton's grip lingering a little too long, her breath too shallow. But then she pulled away, forcing herself upright.

"We're close," she said, more to herself than anyone else.

Ashton's jaw tightened. "Then we move carefully. No one breaks formation."

Kaelin's gaze swept the perimeter. "You think another shadow wolf's nearby?"

"No," Ava said quietly. "Something worse."

⸻

The deeper they pushed into the forest, the more warped the land became. Trees stood skeletal and silent, their limbs curling in on themselves like withered claws. The soil turned brittle underfoot, veins of ashen gray spreading in tangled webs that Ava could see with more than her eyes. It was like the land had bled out its magic, and now only rot remained.

Every so often, she paused, pressing her hand to the earth, her brow furrowed. With each contact, the pulse of the ley lines grew more chaotic. What was once a steady current now spasmed like a dying heartbeat.

They weren't just following the lines anymore. They were chasing the corruption.

A low growl rumbled to the left of the path. Ashton and the trackers instantly tensed, weapons drawn. Ava turned toward the sound, her magic coiling at her fingertips. For a moment, the forest held still.

Then a figure stumbled out from behind a tree.

It wasn't a wolf.

It was a man.

Ava rushed forward just as the figure collapsed at the edge of the trail. His clothes were torn, stained with blood and soot. He was muttering, his voice cracked and broken. Ashton knelt beside him, rolling the man gently onto his side. His eyes were wide, glazed with terror.

"Who did this to you?" Ashton asked, his voice low, steady.

The man's gaze flicked to Ava. "The forest... it took them. My pack. Shadows... they screamed—" He choked on the words. "Burned... not fire... worse..."

Ava knelt beside him and reached for his hand. "What did you see? Tell me."

But the man only trembled before going still, his breath ceasing in a soft sigh. He was gone.

Kaelin let out a curse, turning away. One of the trackers leaned closer, inspecting the man's wounds.

"No ordinary beast did this," the tracker muttered. "Something ripped the life out of him from the inside. Magic, maybe. Or something like it."

Ashton stood, his jaw clenched. "We bury him. Then we move on."

"No," Ava said. "We need to burn the body."

He looked at her, surprised.

She met his eyes, her voice firm. "If the corruption's infected him, burying him will only let it spread."

Reluctantly, Ashton nodded.

It took minutes to build a pyre. Ava lit it with a whisper of flame summoned from her palm, her magic crackling unnaturally blue in the dim light. The flames danced too high for such dry wood, flickering in strange, silent rhythms.

Kaelin watched from a distance, arms folded. "So what now, witch?"

"We're almost there," Ava murmured. "The ley lines... they're screaming."

⸻

They reached the broken node of the ley lines by nightfall.

It was not a place Ava had seen on any map. The terrain dipped sharply into a sunken hollow, where the trees died in twisted spirals around a clearing that pulsed with sickly red light. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of sulfur and scorched bark. Something ancient had clawed its way into this place—and left its mark like a festering wound.

Ava stepped forward alone, the others holding back. Even Ashton kept his distance now, his instincts alert, his wolf near the surface.

She could feel the ley lines like stretched sinew, writhing beneath the surface. Where there had once been harmony, now there was dissonance. Something—someone—had unraveled their natural flow and used it to weave a new, unstable magic.

Ava dropped to her knees, placing both hands to the earth. The jolt of energy that surged up through her bones was nearly unbearable. Her vision flashed white, then black, then settled into a churning storm of color and sound.

She was somewhere else.

No, not somewhere else—somewhen.

Visions flooded her. A temple swallowed by time. A voice chanting in a language she didn't know, yet understood. A figure cloaked in shadows, reaching for the ley lines with hands of smoke. Drawing magic not to heal or balance—but to dominate. To enslave.

Then, Ava saw her. Her mother. Eira Oakley stood in the storm of memory, her white hair billowing like a banner. She turned, eyes glowing gold with power.

"Ava," she whispered. "He's coming."

Ava tried to speak, to ask who, but the vision broke like glass underfoot. She was thrown back into herself, gasping for breath.

Ashton was there instantly, his hands gripping her arms. "Ava!"

She blinked, her voice hoarse. "I saw her. My mother. She tried to stop it."

"Stop what?"

She looked past him to the ground that still burned with corrupted magic. "The one who broke the ley lines. He's ancient. And he's waking up."

A shiver ran through the group. Even Kaelin's sarcastic veneer faltered.

"Do we have a name?" she asked, voice taut.

Ava nodded slowly. "He was called Malrik. A Shadowbinder. Banished centuries ago. And now... he's clawing his way back through the ley lines. Feeding off their chaos."

Ashton's face turned grim. "Then we're already behind."

Ava rose shakily to her feet. "Not yet. There's still a chance to sever his hold before he gains full form."

Kaelin let out a short breath. "And let me guess. That means going even deeper?"

Ava met her gaze. "Into the ley line's heart. The Temple of Origin."

That name silenced everyone.

The Temple of Origin was legend, a place whispered of in stories—where the ley lines converged in their purest form. No one had seen it in centuries. Some doubted it even existed.

But Ava had seen it. Just now. In the vision.

"I can take us there," she said. "But I'll need all of you. If I enter the heart alone, I won't come back."

Ashton's jaw flexed. "You won't go alone."

There was no hesitation in his voice, and Ava felt that bond between them thrum again, a pulse of fate.

Kaelin looked like she wanted to argue, but instead she sheathed her dagger. "Fine. But if this temple eats us alive, I'm haunting you."

Ava almost smiled.

As the night deepened around them, they made camp near the edge of the broken node. No one slept. The land groaned. The stars overhead pulsed strangely, as if the very sky were holding its breath.

Tomorrow, they would seek the Temple of Origin.

And if they failed, the ley lines—and the world they held together—might not survive what came next.