Lyra's POV
The moment the sky screamed, I knew it was him.
It wasn't a real scream not in the way wolves or humans make a sound. It was something deeper, a pressure that rippled outward from the Ironclaw mountains and rolled across the land like a shockwave. The air collapsed inward around me, the river froze mid-flow for a heartbeat, and my pulse stuttered in my chest.
Kaelan.
His name wasn't spoken. It simply detonated inside me.
I spun toward the northern ridge just as a wall of shadow burst over the treeline, swallowing the horizon in a rush of black smoke. The warriors around me stiffened—some reaching for blades, others stepping back as if the earth had tipped beneath their feet.
Elias cursed softly. "What in the goddess' name?"
But I didn't hear the rest. Because the bond was burning.
Not pulsing.
Not tugging.
Burning.
