Once Ashanti finished her test, the duo decided to leave the forest, and the forest itself did not resist their departure.
Where once the land had felt tight and watchful, every root tense, every breeze strained, it now loosened around them, mana settling back into its natural rhythms. The ground no longer pulsed beneath Ashanti's feet. The air no longer tasted like cold iron and lightning.
Life resumed as normal. With a large part of the Star Panther clan killed by them, the other creatures could regain their rightful habitat once more.
Insects began to creep back into the underbrush, birds relaxed and flew around, calling out without their usual caution, while leaves rustled in the wind.
Ashanti noticed it all as they walked. Her senses no longer felt like open wounds. They were tools. Extensions of her will that responded when called and rested when not.
