The second day of travel brought them deeper into the eastern forest. The trees here were different older, thicker, their branches twisted in ways that suggested something unnatural had shaped their growth over time.
Marcus pulled his horse to a stop, his hand raised in a silent signal.
Liz reined in beside him, her expression questioning.
"What is it?" Her voice barely above a whisper.
Marcus closed his eyes, extending his Soul Reading outward. The ability had been growing stronger lately. He'd noticed it first during the goblin nest fight the way he could predict attacks before they came. But it was more than that now. The skill was evolving beyond simple combat application.
Recently, he'd discovered he could detect emotional residue from people traces of their presence that lingered in the air like invisible fingerprints. He could use it to sense people without seeing them, reading their locations through the emotions they left behind.
