The forest of Aether did not release them all at once. It loosened slowly, reluctantly, as if the land itself were weighing the cost of letting them go, ancient trunks giving way to younger growth, the canopy thinning until sunlight filtered through in wider, warmer bands. The air lost some of its deep, loamy hush, replaced by a brighter wind that carried the promise of distance and open sky. Declan felt the shift first, the lifeflow beneath his feet stretching outward instead of folding inward the way it did beneath Finvarra’s oldest groves, and a heartbeat later Elora felt it too, the subtle easing in her chest startling her despite how often it happened now.She exhaled slowly. “I swear,” she muttered, adjusting the strap of her pack, “every time I think I’ve stopped noticing it, the land does something new.”Declan glanced at her, a hint of warmth in his eyes. “That may never stop,” he said. “Noticing is part of listening.”Elora shot him a look. “You say that like it’s comforting
Last Updated : 2026-01-15 Read more