The air thickened around us like smoke. Sophie’s voice wove through it, low and steady, a rhythm older than time itself. Her lips moved fast, but the words made no sense to me. Each syllable felt like it carried weight pulling the air, twisting it, bending it. The ground beneath my paws trembled faintly, and the leaves in the nearby trees rustled though there was no wind.

I stared at her, frozen. Her eyes were closed, her palms lifted slightly, and a dim blue light flickered between her ...