LYRA POINT OF VIEW

Midnight did not arrive all at once.

It crept in slowly, stretching across the hours like a shadow unwilling to settle. After Kael left, time seemed to lose its rhythm. The fire in my chamber burned lower with each passing moment, its crackling growing softer, weaker, until only glowing embers remained. Beyond my door, Moonfang gradually surrendered to sleep, voices fading into murmurs, footsteps becoming scarce, doors closing one after another like falling dominoes.

The ...