It came through the canopy and found the ground in the same instant, the familiar column of white and electric blue lasting its fraction of a second before releasing, and Noah's feet softly met the forest floor.
He exhaled.
The air here was different from the city air — cooler, denser with the particular quality that deep forest carried, the smell of old wood and soil and the accumulated organic complexity of a place that had been growing without significant interruption for a very long time.
He stood still for a moment and let his senses adjust, taking in the environment with the calm attention of someone who had learned not to rush the first few seconds in a new location.
He looked around.
The trees here were different from the ones closer to the forest's edge, where he had spent the majority of his previous visits.
