"We're staying here tonight," Matthias said, his voice snapping back into command mode. He stared into the fog, eyes sharp. "Heading to Eisthal in this kind of darkness? Too risky. I'm not about to gamble with your life, or anyone else's, out here in a forest crawling with wolves and starving monsters."
He signaled to his lead soldier. Within minutes, a small campfire crackled to life, and a double-sized tent was pitched just off the trail. Greta watched the soldiers work with swift, practiced precision, a stark contrast to the emotional chaos still swirling inside her.
A cold southern wind whispered through the trees, slicing through Greta's thick cloak like it wasn't even there. The fog thickened, wrapping around the towering pines like ghostly vines, turning the world around them into a shifting gray painting.
Matthias glanced her way, his expression calm again, like that intense conversation about soul distortion and obsessive danger had never happened.
