The world was too quiet.

Not peaceful hollow.

The clearing reeked of burned magic and blood, smoke still snaking from the cracked earth like ghostly fingers. The goddess was gone, but her presence clung to the air like frost on my skin, sharp and suffocating.

Kael lay in my lap, his golden skin turned ashen beneath streaks of blood and dirt. His chest rose and fell in shallow, uneven breaths, every exhale rattling in my ears like a death knell.

“Stay with me,” I whispered, pushing ...