Lila
The land wakes before the sun does.
I feel it before I open my eyes — a shift beneath my skin, subtle but insistent, like something tapping once against glass.
Up.
Not a command.
An expectation.
I dress quickly, pale hair loose down my back, fingers trembling as I lace my boots. The silver warmth beneath my skin is alert now, coiled and ready in a way that makes my breath come shallow.
Today won’t be quiet.
When I step into the clearing, the air is already wrong.
Too still.
Too focused.
The markers from the Trial glow faintly, brighter than they did yesterday, their light threading deeper into the earth. Selene stands near the edge, posture rigid, Thorne beside her with his jaw set.
Rowan is there too — closer than before, though still outside the boundary. His gaze finds
