The leaf boat slowed on its own.
No signal had been given. No command spoken. Yet the current shifted beneath them, easing its pull until the boat drifted naturally toward the riverbank. Within moments, the opal leaf grounded itself against smooth stone, rocking once before settling.
Five hours.
Earlier than expected.
The undercurrent here was stronger than anywhere they had passed before–layered, disciplined, no longer wild. It did not feel like wilderness anymore. It felt regulated.
No one spoke.
Since leaving the forest, no one had mentioned the nightmare. Not once. The silence was not avoidance–it was exhaustion. Whatever had followed them through the river had been faced and left behind without ceremony.
Hylisi was the first to move.
She stepped off the leaf and onto the riverbank, boots pressing into damp soil that was neither soft nor firm. She tested it once, then nodded to herself. Only after that did she turn back to the group.
