The journey back to Caelmont was quieter than before. The sky had taken on a copper hue, and as the sun sank, the horizon seemed to burn. Every few minutes, the stone in my pocket would give a faint tremor, as if reminding me it was alive or, worse, aware.
From horseback, I could already see the city in the distance. When the vineyards reappeared, I slowed my pace. The workers were long gone; only the darkening rows of vines remained, swaying softly in the wind.
"One step closer…" I repeated my own words, but this time, they didn't feel like mine. They sounded borrowed.
I stopped my horse and placed a hand over my chest, where the stone rested. My heartbeat was slower, heavier than before, as if each pulse was synchronizing with the rhythm of the stone.
It was faint, but I could feel something spreading from the stone into my veins like invisible threads branching outward. I recognized the sensation. I had felt it once before, when I first obtained the technique of the Demon God.
