LYRA'S POVThe night felt like it lasted five minutes. Before I knew it, the sky was a dull, bruised gray and I was standing at the edge of the forest with a pack on my back. Silas was there, his horse stamping its feet in the cold air.Killian was standing next to him, looking like a warrior from the old stories. He had two long blades strapped to his back and a look of grim determination on his face."This is as far as I go," Silas said, looking at me one last time. He reached out and squeezed my shoulder. His hand was heavy, and I could feel the suspicion coming off him in waves. "If you see your father again, tell him I did my duty.""I will," I said, my voice sounding small in the vastness of the woods.Silas turned his horse and rode back toward the Academy, leaving Killian and me alone at the trailhead.The forest was thick and dark, the trees twisting together like gnarled fingers. I could hear the sound of the wind whistling through the pines, a low, lonely sound that made me
Last Updated : 2026-02-04 Read more