KAEL'S POV
We started walking before dawn.
The sky was a sheet of bruised gray, the kind that promised another storm. Snow clung to my boots, to the edge of my cloak, to the scars on my hands. I didn't bother brushing it off. The cold was a steady ache that kept me awake.
Ayla walked ahead, silent.
Her shoulders were squared, her breath visible in slow, even bursts. The glow that had lingered on her skin last night was gone—but the memory of it wasn't. It still burned behind my eyes every time I blinked.
The forest had changed since we last crossed it. Trees bent in odd directions, their bark laced with cracks that oozed faint silver light. The Hollow's corruption had spread farther than we thought.
When she finally spoke, her voice was low, controlled. "The Hollow won't stay where it was. The barrier's gone. It's bleeding into everything."
"Because of me?" I asked.
She didn't turn. "Because of us."
