Chapter 122

*Elora*

The trees were too quiet.

Even the wind had stopped whispering through the leaves, as if the forest itself had gone breathless. I crouched beneath a twisted pine, fingers pressed into damp moss, pulse pounding too loudly in my ears. I was supposed to be focused—eyes sharp, energy measured. This was just a scouting run. A foraging mission. No magic. No flare. Nothing to light me up.

But the