The ground trembled beneath Aria’s feet, though no one else seemed to feel it. Wind whispered secrets through the trees, curling around her skin like a memory. The rift had opened an hour ago—just outside the edge of the northern clearing—and though no spirits had poured through, a strange energy pulsed from within it, tugging at her chest like a second heartbeat.

She stood at the edge now, her boots resting on cracked earth laced with threads of silver mist. It shimmered, alive, ...