Chapter 84: Unseen Moves.
Inside the forest, the light from the city faded behind them, swallowed by the thick canopy. Pale moonlight filtered through in narrow strands, and the sound of nocturnal creatures echoed from every direction.
The deeper she went, the more unnatural the silence became.
Elysia moved with quiet precision, each step placed deliberately to avoid snapping twigs or crunching dead leaves. She controlled her breathing while walking behind.
The forest around her was dark and hushed, lit only by the faint glow of moonlight slipping between the dense canopy.
Every so often, she caught sight of him through the trees—a brief glimpse of Kael’s dark cloak vanishing behind a trunk, or the faint sound of his boots brushing over the forest floor.
He wasn’t wandering aimlessly. That much was clear.
She didn’t know what he was hiding, but she could feel it—something was off.
"Are you planning to kill us again?", she whispered to herself.
(I will not let that happen again).
For nearly fifteen minutes, she followed him at a distance, keeping low and using every ounce of stealth she had. Finally, up ahead, the forest opened into a small clearing. She froze behind a thick tree trunk, pressing herself against the bark as she peered around carefully.
Her breath caught.
In the middle of the clearing, Kael knelt before a strange arrangement of ancient-looking stones. They formed a half-circle, weathered and cracked, half-swallowed by moss and creeping vines.