The horn's echo faded into the distance, leaving behind a silence so thick it felt carved into the air.
Selara didn't realize she was holding her breath until Draven exhaled beside her, slow and controlled, his body still taut as if the danger might rise again if he relaxed even for a heartbeat. The forest had gone unnaturally still. No insects. No wind. Even the leaves seemed frozen mid-whisper.
"That sound…" Selara said quietly. "It wasn't meant for us alone."
Draven nodded. His jaw tightened as his gaze swept the dark treeline, searching for movement that didn't come. "It was a summons. Or a warning."
Her fingers tightened around his hand. "To who?"
His thumb brushed her knuckles, grounding, intimate. "That's what worries me."
They didn't move for a while. Not because they couldn't but because neither of them wanted to break the fragile calm that had settled after days of chaos. After blood. After fear. After almost losing everything.
