Daria’s POV

Barrier eventually broke, not due to failure, but because the assaulting parties withdrew at daybreak. The forest fell back to its usual silent condition, and the birds called out, sounding an alarm to see whether the danger had really passed. I bent my hands down, all the muscles pained, and gave a sigh which I thought I had been trying to suppress all night.

Lucius was several steps back, staring at the tree line as he thought that at any moment the shadows would come back. His attitude was full of tension and nervousness, yet there was something else also. Uncertainty. He continued to gaze at me and...