"Are you sure about this?" he murmured, his voice pitched low to avoid carrying in the stillness. "Trusting Selia could be a grave mistake."

Elara's jaw tightened, her grip on her sword hilt flexing. "I'm not sure of anything anymore," she admitted, her gaze fixed on the path ahead. "But we can't ignore the threat she warned us about, not after everything we've been through."

Damien nodded, his expression grim. "Then we press on, and pray we're not walking into a trap."

Seraphina fell into step beside them, her lithe movements almost silent on the forest floor. "I've scouted ahead," she reported, her eyes narrowed. "No signs of trouble yet,...