Selene POV

The eastern ridge was everything Sylvester had promised and more.

We have been climbing steadily for the better part of an hour, the forest growing denser and more ancient with every step.

The trees here were very huge, their trunks were so wide that three people holding hands couldn’t encircle them. Overhead, the canopy was so thick that only thin shafts of sunlight broke through, striping the forest floor in shifting gold.

When we finally stepped out onto the ridge, I ...