>>Draegon
The clouds hadn't thinned.
If anything, they clung tighter to the sky as I soared above the ancient trees, the wind screaming against my ears, and the smell of rain still thick in the air. The storm hadn't let up—but I didn't care. It would take more than a little thunder to stop me now.
Draken flew alongside me, the deep black of his wings cutting sharp through the fog as he held Vesper securely in his arms. The boy's eyes were wide, but he was quiet, focused. Good. He knew what was at stake.
Below us stretched the cursed expanse of the Muriel Forest, vast and coiling like a black sea of tangled branches and secrets. Even from above, the forest looked...wrong. Its trees were taller than they should be, the canopies too dense to let light through. The deeper we flew, the more twisted the roots and trunks appeared, like something ancient had shaped them—and not with kindness.
