He observed it for a few moments, the horse eating, the stones glimmering between its teeth.
Then he closed his eyes.
He intended to rest for a while before setting out again.
But it was at that moment that it happened.
A change. Small. Subtle. Almost imperceptible.
The shadows around him seemed to move.
It was not a dramatic movement, not shadows dancing like snakes or stretching like tentacles.
It was something gentler. More natural.
As if the sun had shifted slightly in the sky, altering the angles.
But the sun had not moved.
Kyrian opened his eyes.
He frowned. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The birdsong had stopped. Not gradually, not one bird after another, their voices fading in sequence.
But all at once.
As if an invisible hand had flipped a switch.
The insects, which moments before had been producing their constant background buzzing, had also fallen silent.
The silence was absolute. Even the wind seemed to have vanished.
