Violet fire still throbbed under my skin, coiling along my veins like living threads of intent. Every breath I drew tasted of ash and iron and the acrid residue of magic. The forest around us shivered, alive and watchful, waiting for the inevitable storm. Silas stayed close, his presence a tether to reality, grounding me even as my power hummed with restless energy.

Figures began to emerge from the shadows—twisted, jagged, moving between human and something else. They weren’t all aligned, some were hybrids, some were remnants of the shadows I had fought, but each carried a cold purpose. One glance at them told me they weren’t here for testing....