Sera stayed where she was, her legs dangling over the cliff, the ocean stretching endlessly below like it had all the time in the world.
The gulls wheeled overhead in lazy circles, crying out as if nothing important had just been said. Behind them, the forest whispered with the quiet movement of leaves, the kind of sound that reminded her that life kept going whether she understood it or not.
The other woman, the thing she called her creature, didn't move closer.
She remained behind Sera, close enough that her presence pressed against Sera's awareness, but never touched. It wasn't intimidation. It wasn't control. It felt like the way a shadow followed you, not because it wanted to, but because you were the thing casting it.
Sera stared out at the water and let the truth settle properly.
'One must die for us to survive.'
She didn't flinch at the wording.
She didn't recoil from the bluntness.
