Jade handed over the pouch without hesitation. Alex took it, his hands steadier than he expected, and tipped the contents onto the flat stone beside the food.
Seven stones. Dull. Cold. Silent.
Alex picked one first—the bronze stone, the one that had guided him to Granite's tribe all those months ago. It was just a rock now. No warmth, no hum, no sense of presence that had become so familiar he'd stopped noticing it.
He picked up another. And another. And another. One by one, he held them, and one by one, they gave him nothing.
"The stones are dormant," Leo said quietly.
"The shadow did something to them," Lucas agreed.
