The air tasted like fear. The shadow had recoiled, but only slightly, curling at the edges of the clearing like smoke unwilling to vanish. My hands trembled, threads of magic still glowing faintly as they clung stubbornly to the Mirror of Moons. Every muscle in my body screamed exhaustion, but there was no time to collapse, no moment to breathe.
Hazel and Zack crouched near the treeline, their eyes wide, bodies tense. Even they looked like they were barely holding on. “It’s… it’s not gone,” Hazel breathed, voice tight with disbelief. “Whatever that thing is, it’s still out there.”
I swallowed hard, tasting the metallic tang of adrenaline. The Mirror pulsed beneath my fingers, a steady heartbeat in the chaos. It hummed, but this time, it felt different. Warmer, almost alive, like it was t
