The forest felt different when they stepped deeper into it—alive in a way that made Liora's skin prickle. It wasn't only the magic humming through the roots or the wind that carried whispers. It was the awareness. The ancient, assessing presence that followed their every move, as if the land itself was waiting to judge Kaelan's next breath.
The shadows curled around him in silent waves, flowing with a grace that felt almost reverent. They no longer clung to him like chains. They circled him like a vow.
Liora watched the shift, watched him, the way each step brought a steadier balance between the boy he had been and the power settling into his bones. The forest had stripped him down, but now it was giving something back—something deeper, older, more binding.
But balance always demanded its price.
Kaelan felt it before he saw anything. A pressure, low and resonant, thrummed through the air—like a heartbeat not his own. The shadows froze. Not in fear, but in recognition.
