Wina stepped out of her room after putting Ava to sleep, carrying little Arion in her arms. Aldwin was still with Della in their room.
What she heard next was, without a doubt, the wildest conversation she'd ever walked into.
"I saw it clearly—the face of a Mistwalker," Ares declared dramatically. "That thing had no mouth, no nose, just eyes."
The young dragon continued, "And I also saw how the Mistfiend commanded the Mistwalkers and Mistwights. The idea to form a staircase from their own bodies—that was its order. It's not a mindless monster. It can think, like us."
"W-what are you talking about?" Wina asked, shivering at the image of such creatures.
Before fear could take root, Gara quickly explained everything in detail, hoping to keep her calm.
"For hundreds of years," Wina murmured, "no one has ever entered the mist and come back as themself. No one's ever been able to create a safe space inside it either."
