POV: Aphrodite
Not all roads are meant to be walked.
The threat Lyra sensed turned out to be a corrupted predator—small, manageable, driven off by Cassian before it could get close. But the warning served its purpose. We're all on edge now, watching shadows with sharper attention. The forest feels different since that encounter, like it's holding its breath, waiting for something worse.
Three days after Kai officially joins us as guide, we reach the mountain pass.
I understand immediately why Kai warned us about this place.
The pass cuts through sheer cliff faces like a wound carved by angry gods. Narrow. Barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The rock faces on either side tower hundreds of feet above us, unstable and crumbling. Loose scree coats the ground in patterns that suggest frequent rockslides, gray stone fragments ranging from pebbles to boulders scattered like broken teeth.
