We ran through the glass forest, our footsteps silent on the crystalline ground. Astro ahead of me. The trees blurring past in streaks of transparent light. My wolf's screams still echoing in my mind even though we'd left her behind, the sound reverberating through my skull like trapped lightning.
The Grove pulsed again. Another wave of power that made the air shimmer and distort. Another feeding.
Ori's dying.
"I know." Astro's voice was grim through the red thread, sharp with urgency. "The Grove is gorging on him. If we don't reach him soon—"
He stopped abruptly.
I nearly crashed into his back, my hands catching his shoulders to steady myself. Looked past him to see why he'd frozen.
Someone stood in our path.
Not Ori. Not another Kael. Not any of the dead wolves the Grove had manifested.
Me.
