The old moon shrine district did not feel like part of the capital anymore.
The deeper they traveled into the abandoned quarter, the more the city behind them seemed to disappear beneath silence and snow. The streets narrowed into cracked stone pathways buried under frost while ancient monuments leaned at unnatural angles beside collapsed courtyards and ruined archways. Ivy frozen solid clung to crumbling walls marked by symbols worn nearly invisible by centuries of neglect.
And above it all --
The moon watched through the storm.
Pale.
Cold.
Broken apart by drifting clouds.
Selene rode slowly beside Kael through the ruined district while the guards spread outward in disciplined formation. No one spoke loudly. Even the horses seemed uneasy beneath the oppressive stillness hanging over the shrine roads.
The pulse beneath Selene's ribs had grown stronger since entering the district.
Not painful.
Directional.
