At first the road east had been quiet. Soaring trees flanked us on either side, leaves rustling like whispers at the cool breath of wind. Birds flew above, and the sun rose after them like an old crony. Serakha strode ahead, walking with confidence. Lucian came up behind him, his cloak swishing through the tall grass. The Onyx Wolf was silent as it shifted forwards.
That morning, they didn't say much. There was no need. The world was coming alive again, and each step seemed like it counted.
At midday they came to an open field. Here the grasses were golden and rippled like the sea. Insects hummed leisurely in the sunlight Sera kha came to halt in a crouch, and she played her fingers over the earth.
"It's shifting," she said softly. "The land is waking here as well."
Lucian looked around. "Feels not like the Hollow. Wilder."
"It hasn't been touched in quite a while," she said. "It remembers older songs."
