Sera POVDawn broke reluctantly over Ravenwood. Frost clung to the pine needles like tiny claws, and when the first light came, it didn't warm anything, just made the ice glitter. I could smell the cold: sharp, mineral, mixed with rotting leaves buried under yesterday's snowmelt. A branch cracked somewhere to my left. I stopped. Listened. Just a squirrel, probably, but nothing felt casual anymore. Every sound made my shoulders tense.Erya's hand found mine before I reached for hers. Her fingers were small, sticky from the honey bread she'd eaten at dawn, and she didn't say a word. She'd stopped asking questions three days ago. Now she just watched, head tilted, eyes tracking movement I sometimes missed. Four years old and already learning that silence kept you safer than questions. The thought sat heavy in my chest.Lyra walked two steps behind us, close enough that I heard her breathing. She scanned the treeline in steady sweeps, left to right, always moving. We'd stopped talking muc
Last Updated : 2026-01-25 Read more