The night was quiet in a way that felt unnatural. The kind of quiet that pressed against the skin, as if the world itself was holding its breath.
Aria stood alone near the river that cut through the edge of the forest, the moon's reflection fractured by the current. She watched the water flow — silver ribbons twisting around black stones — and for the first time since the goddess appeared, she allowed herself to feel it: fear.
Not the fear of death. She'd met that before.
But the fear of change. Of what she was about to become.
Kael's voice drifted from behind her, steady and low. "You're hesitating."
She didn't turn. "You would too, if you knew that crossing a line meant never being who you were again."
"I crossed it long ago," he said. The sound of his steps was soft on the moss, his presence like a shadow folded into the night. "And you know what I learned?"
Aria's silence invited him to continue.
"That the person you were before doesn't die. They just… stop leading."
