Chapter Twenty-one: The Singing River

Thalia’s POV

The river waited for me like a beast holding its breath.

It was stretched wide and endless, cloaked in silver mist and shadows that moved too slowly with the wind. Rocks jutted from the banks like broken teeth, and the water beneath was dark.

Not clear. Not blue,

Just…dark. The kind of dark that felt sentient.

The Devil’s Cleft.

That’s what Rorik called it.

He mentioned that the river was cursed. It held strange creatures and danger seemed to make it his abode.

No one crosses and lives to speak of it. Witches ruled the lands beyond it, and the river itself obeyed no kingdom. But I had no choice.

I stepped closer, until the icy spray kissed my face. I could still feel the echo of that presence, the silent watcher who had followed me before the Direlands… and now again. It wasn’t hostile. But it wasn’t gone.

By now I was beginning to grow wary of this persistent presence. I didn't know if it was for my good or if it was evil. I decided to ignore it.

I took a