— The Mountains
The path had disappeared two days ago.
Varian climbed anyway. The Southern Mountains didn't want visitors — the trails twisted back on themselves, streams changed direction overnight, and the trees grew so thick that sunlight only reached the ground in thin, scattered blades. She'd been walking for six days since leaving Nova Drakhal, and for the last two she'd been navigating by instinct alone.
Her instinct had never been wrong before. She wasn't about to doubt it now.
The colar around her neck — Drayk's gift — pulsed faintly every few hours. A warmth against her collarbone, like a second heartbeat. She'd stopped touching it on the third day. It made her think of him, and thinking of him made her slow down.
On the seventh morning, she found the first marker.
