Lyra's POV
The night felt heavier than it should have.
Even the air had weight dense, humming, charged with something that didn't belong.
The moon hung low over Riverbend's valley, a silver coin veiled by restless clouds, and below its pale light the forest stretched like a living shadow.
From the balcony of Luna Aeryn's Hall, I could see the treetops swaying unnaturally, even though the wind was still.
Something was wrong.
Luna Aeryn stood beside me, her eyes fixed on the horizon. She'd barely slept since Kaelan's return three days ago since he'd collapsed at the border with that darkness clinging to his skin.
The healers still didn't understand what lived inside him, only that it wasn't an ordinary sickness.
"It's spreading," she murmured, voice low, calm only on the surface. "The curse moves like wildfire through the ley lines. The earth feels it. The wolves feel it."
