ULRIC KNIGHT
The forest of shadows waits in front of us, vast and black, a wall of trees that look more like bones clawing out of the earth than anything living. The branches twist together so thickly that hardly a sliver of moonlight filters through. The air itself is colder here, heavy, like the edge of a storm that never breaks. My wolf presses forward, pacing, ears pricked and hackles high. Every instinct screams that this place is wrong, but deeper still, the bond burns. Aelia is inside. I can feel her, faint, muffled, but here.
I take the first step. The soil is damp, soft enough that my boots sink, sucking like it doesn't want to let me go. Behind me, Hayden mutters something under his breath about horror stories that start exactly like this. Elias shoots him a look but says nothing. Seraphine moves soundlessly, skirts barely whispering even against the brambles that should have snagged her hem.
