The moon sat full and pale above, like an unblinking eye over the cold tall vast forest.
With only the sounds of hooves striking the ground amidst the eerie silence, the horses finally stilled at the open space between the trees.
Sylteena dismounted first, her dark cloak fluttering behind her. Darian followed, armored from shoulder to boot, his footsteps echoed louder than hers as they proceeded a few more feet in between the forest trees — illuminating their path with the glow of the lantern in his grasp.
The grass they walked onto started to die off as the trees appeared more drained and wrinkled, seeming like the soul were being sucked out of the forest the further they walked.
The two finally reached their stop.
Standing barefoot by a skeleton of a tree was Vanya.
