The mountain road narrowed into a ragged stretch of dirt and stone as the carriage climbed closer to the Ironforge range.
The air grew thin, the smell of salt from the distant sea mixing with the sharp, metallic tang of rock and mountain pine. The cliffs to their right plunged into fog-shrouded depths where waves crashed far below, invisible but audible in low, rhythmic echoes.
The sound was almost calming. Until the ground gave way.
One wheel dipped first.
Just a fraction.
The other followed, and suddenly the weight of the carriage tipped sharply toward the ravine. The horses screamed, hooves scraping for stable ground as the wooden frame lurched. Vepice grabbed onto the bench, her knuckles white, while Kai stood instantly and jumped from the carriage.
Vepice looked at him with shock, but he wasn't abandoning the carriage, or her.
His hands snapped out as his shadow magic roared to life.
