Chapter 50 Shadows That Speak

• POV: Liora
• It was too quiet in the forest. There was only the sound of my breath and the faint, panicked hammering of my heart—no patter of paws, no rustle of wings. Her aura was still present. Lupita. Our relationship was lively yet brittle, a slender thread pulling at my chest like a lantern candle against a tempest.
• It trembled with each stride, as if it might go out completely, and each time, my knees felt like they were about to give out.