Rissa’s POV

The forest did not feel the same anymore.

It was still the same stretch of trees, the same damp earth underfoot, the same distant rustle of leaves shifting high above. But something inside it had changed. Or maybe something inside me had. Every breath I took tasted sharper, fuller, like the world had peeled back a hidden layer and let me see what had always been there.

I walked ahead of them.

Not because I wanted to lead. Because something was pulling me forward.

Not the ...