Chapter 40
The feeling wouldn't go away. It had followed Ariana since they left the council, faint at first, easy to ignore if she focused on everything else. But now it pressed steadily against her chest, heavier with every passing moment, like something unseen was drawing closer. She didn't know what it was, but she knew one thing with certainty.
Something was coming.
She stood near the edge of the cliff, her gaze fixed on the horizon as the sky slowly brightened. Morning light spread across the clouds in soft gold, brushing the distant peaks with quiet warmth. It should have felt like a new beginning after everything that had happened. It didn't.
The silence around her felt wrong.
It wasn't calm or peaceful. It felt stretched thin, like something beneath it was waiting to break. Even the wind seemed quieter, moving carefully across the mountain as if it knew something was about to change.
