Marked in the Middle
It followed like a phantom echo in Kael’s skull, threading through his thoughts, patient and poisonous.
By the time they reached the foot of the slope, the world had changed. The once-green pass that separated the northern ranges from the old roads was now nothing but ash and bone. The ground was black, the trees burned into jagged silhouettes. Rivers of molten silver cut through the landscape like scars, flowing uphill, against logic, against gravity.
“The Scar,” Lira murmured, her voice barely audible over the low hum that filled the air. “It’s worse than the reports said.”
Hot Chapters