Elvira

The air was filled with an almost electric stillness, as if the entire woods was holding its breath. Shadows stretched at the clearing where we’d set up for the ritual, ancient stones with faded runes encircling the small fire pit. The cold night seeped into my bones, but it was nothing compared to the chill crawling through my veins.

I pulled my cloak tighter around me, heart pounding not from the cold but from the weight of what I was about to do. Severing the ...