Nyx's POV
I've been walking for over thirty minutes. I expected Frost's voice to needle at me throughout my journey — her sarcastic commentary a constant companion whether I wanted it or not — but it was weirdly, unsettlingly quiet.
'Frost?' I called out for the fifth time, my voice swallowed whole by the dark. I was met with a deep, hollow silence that felt almost intentional.
Maybe she was ignoring me. Maybe something was wrong.
I shook the thought away before it could take root and continued walking, pulling my arms closer to my body as if that would somehow make me smaller and less noticeable.
The forest was oddly quiet. Unnaturally quiet. No crickets. No rustling leaves. No distant hoot of an owl — nothing but the soft crunch of my own footsteps against the earth. The sun hadn't come up yet, the sky still bruised a deep, starless black, and I was certain it couldn't be any later than midnight.
Then I heard it. A low growl, rumbling and guttural, somewhere off to my left.
