The tunnels opened into a cavern where the air smelled of wet stone and moss. A thin stream ran across the floor, catching the dim glow of Mira's lantern. The group had stopped to rest, exhaustion weighing on every face.
Jane sat against the cavern wall, flexing her new arm. The ache was dulled now—thanks to Levi's magic—but the weight of it, the hiss of its gears, was still foreign. She caught herself staring at it too long, lost in thought.
Levi knelt a few steps away, her black wings folded close, her golden eyes fixed on the stream as though listening to something no one else could hear.
"You're quiet," Jane murmured.
Levi glanced at her, the faintest flicker of a smile touching her lips. "And you are restless."
Jane gave a small, tired laugh. "You can tell?"
"I can feel it," Levi replied, tapping two fingers against her temple. "You carry your thoughts too loudly. They burn."
Jane pushed her new glasses up her nose, embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I'm still… adjusting."
Levi's gaze softened. "You adapt faster than you realize. That is why Shax fears you."
Jane froze, her heart skipping. "Fears… me? I'm just a witch who got lucky."
"No," Levi said firmly. She moved closer, the air warming with her presence. "You are a witch who chose. You faced pain and did not break. That is strength even a dragon cannot steal. There is something within you, something I can't tell."
The words struck deep. Jane lowered her gaze, cheeks warming, unsure what to say.
But before she could speak, Levi's head snapped toward the cavern mouth. Her wings flared, her hair catching a faint red sheen in the dim light.
"Something's coming," she whispered.
The others stirred—Mira setting down her tools, Ryn shifting uneasily, Harrow muttering a curse. The air itself seemed to tighten, as if the storm outside had found its way underground.
Jane shivered. She didn't hear anything yet, but she trusted Levi's instincts.
"Shax," Levi said at last, her voice low, certain. "He hunts us."
Jane's stomach twisted. The phantom ache in her missing hand pulsed again, almost as if her body remembered the dragon's blade.
She looked at Levi, fear and determination warring in her chest. "Then what do we do?"
Levi's eyes burned red for a heartbeat, her horns glinting in the lantern light.
"We survive," she said simply.
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