Amber POV
I don't know what gave me the first inkling that something was badly wrong. It might have been the rustling I heard in the background or the soft crunching of leaves beneath a footstep, a soft thud of a paw hitting the ground. Whatever it was, it gave me the notion that I wasn't as alone on my walk as I thought I was. Perhaps I had been a touch foolish to go walking in the forest, but after my discussion with Darius, I had needed some alone time to think and to just breathe. To be alone rather than surrounded by people in a sea of chaos.
I whirled around, my eyes searching the forest, Lilac urging me to be cautious. "Hello" I called out, "is anybody out there?"
Surely there would be a member of patrol close by? I was being anxious over nothing. There was no one there. At leas
