The forest exploded into motion the moment Isabella screamed.
Birds—yellow-bellied dartwings, mist thrushes, even those weird featherless puff-chickens that only lived on the Lunareen mountain—shot into the air like she had personally announced the end of the world. Wings flapped in a frenzy, leaves drifted down in a confused spiral, and a small squirrel-thing dropped the fruit it was munching on and sprinted away on two legs.
Even the trees seemed to go, "oh damn, she's serious today."
Osiris, who still stubbornly followed behind her like some lost prince trying not to admit he was lost, froze mid-step. His long lashes flicked once. His brows drew slowly downward. He looked genuinely… worried? Concerned? Uncertain?
He stared at Isabella like a man who had just watched a rabbit learn how to roar.
