<b>CHAPTER </b>116


    The first light of dawn crept through the cracks in the hut, spilling across the floor in thin, jagged lines that seemed almost alive. Shadows stretched long and sharp, reaching out like fingers trying to pull me back into the darkness I’d barely escaped. The sun was climbing higher, beating down on thend and testing my patience with every passing minute.


    I stayed in the doorway, tense, eyes glued to the horizon where the endless ins looked calm and perfect–but I knew better. The air was heavy and quiet, but my instincts screamed that the calm was fake. Danger was out there somewhere, waiting, watching, and I could feel it tracking my every move.


    I nced over at Elias who was still fast asleep and unaware of anything that I was feeling right now. He looked peaceful. I didn’t want to disturb that right now. Not by something that wasn’t even here. Although, he knew not to ignore what I was feeling. No matter how little it was. I still couldn’t bring myself to wake him up and have him deal with this s**t along with <ol><li>me. </li></ol>


    I started wondering why Arthur and the Ash Queen had never mentioned this sorcerer before. He’s obviously yed a big part in everything that’s happened around here, shaping events from the shadows. Even if the Ash Queen ims that she did it, it didn’t feel right. He could be working with her, or maybe he has his own ns that none of us can see. I don’t know. I’ve already learned that there’s only one person in this realm I could truly trust, and he was asleep, only a few feet away from me, unaware of my growing unease.


    Hours slipped by, though I wasn’t keeping count. My stomach growled again, louder this time, but I barely noticed. My hands itched to move–to extend my ws, grab an arrow–anything to protect us if the sorcerer’s shadow showed up earlier than expected. The quiet around me felt almost alive, like it was holding its breath.


    Then, a flicker at the edge of the ins caught my eye, too deliberate to b a trick. My heart jumped, hammering in my chest as adrenaline surged through me. I froze, muscles tight, hand inching up to signal Elias without a sound. But he was still asleep.


    The figure came into view<i>, </i>moving slow but like he knew exactly where he was going. Dust kicked up behind him, but his steps were careful, almost like he was gliding over the dirt. There was something about the way he moved that made my skin crawl. I knew instantly— this wasn’t just a normal person. Danger came in all sorts of forms, but this… this was different.


    I slipped outside quietly, staying in the shadow of the doorway. “Who’s there?” I said, keeping my voice steady but low enough not to give myself away.


    < CHAPTER 116


    <b>+25 </b>Points


    He stopped and tilted his head, staring at the hut. Didn’t say a word, but I could feel the chill of him, creeping around me like smoke. My ws itched, my heart was racing–but I didn’t move. One wrong step and it could be over.


    Then, like it was nothing, he spoke. “I’ve been looking for you.”


    A shiver ran through my bond with Elias, a silent warning that this was way closer than I thought. Even without looking back, I knew he was awake, ready to jump at a moment’s


    notice.


    “You’ve been meddling in things far beyond your understanding,” the man continued, moving closer. Each step was precise. “And yet… here you are. So predictable.”


    I clenched my fists, holding back a growl. “We’re not afraid of you.” My voice shook slightly, betraying the tension in my chest. He knew how to put fear into <i>someone </i>without touching


    them.


    A smirk curved his lips. “Fear isn’t my tool. Patience is. Observation. And when the timees…” His eyes flicked toward the horizon, where the remnants of the shadow storm lingered like a warning, “…everything you’ve built, everything you think you protect, will fall.”


    My ws shot out instinctively, cutting the air. The figure onlyughed softly, a whisper carried by the wind. “I don’t even need to move a hand. You will bring this upon yourself. And I


    will watch.”


    Before I could react further, he turned and began walking away, leaving a chilling emptiness behind. The ins seemed to exhale, but the tension didn’t leave my shoulders.


    I stepped forward, noticing signs I hadn’t seen before. His tracks were almost too light to touch the ground, yet they pressed into the earth as if walking like anyone else did. And the air around him felt colder, carrying a faint hum that made my skin tingle.


    I closed my eyes for a moment, letting my pulse slow. Elias’s hand touch my shoulder. ” He’s testing us.” Elias said quietly. “But we’re not ready. We can’t fight him if we don’t know how to beat him.”


    A strange vision flickered before my eyes–a shadowy storm, twisting shapes moving like living things, reaching into viges and forests alike. I saw people frozen in fear, caught in a grip they couldn’t escape, their faces twisted in silent screams. Shadows coiled around trees, climbed walls, and slithered along streets, as if the world itself was bending under some dark will. And at the center, the sorcerer’s face, calm and cold, watching with eyes that seemed to pierce right through me, judging, calcting. My stomach churned violently, and I stumbled slightly, catching myself on the hut’s frame. It wasn’t even this realm that I recognised. It was another, strange and distant, yet terrifyingly real, as if I had glimpsed a nightmare lurking just


    beyond my own world. <fnd952> ??? ????? ???????s ??? ?????s??? ?? fin?novel</fnd952>


    “He’s not going to stop. We have to stop him.” I said, adamantly.


    “And we will.” Elias said, his voice sharp and determined. “And then he’ll realize he’s messing with the wrong people.”


    I nodded, trying to push down the fear that stuck to me like the shadow that just disappeared in front of me. My quiver felt lighter–not because I had fewer arrows, but because of what wasing. This hunt wasn’t just about staying alive anymore. It was about getting even.


    I took onest look across the ins, feeling the pull of something unknown. The sorcerer was out there. Watching. Waiting. And I had a promise to keep–not just to Elias, but to this whole world.


    A flicker in the distance caught my eye–like the air itself was bending. Something moved, almost invisible but deliberate, like the ins themselves obeyed him. The wind shifted weirdly, carrying faint whispers of power I couldn’t fully understand, but strong enough to make my skin tingle.


    And then, barely there, I felt it–a touch on the edge of my thoughts, a pull like a shadow stretching toward me. He was moving closer, testing boundaries, shaping what we would see and fear before the first blow. The hunt wasn’t justing. It was already beginning.


    I let the wolf inside me rise, coiled and ready. The world felt sharper now–the wind, a whisper of warning, the distant rustle of dirt and debris, a possible harbinger, every shadow a question yet to be answered. Somewhere beyond the horizon, the storm stirred again, slow and deliberate, and I knew the sorcerer’s next move was already in motion.


    A flicker caught my eye–a shadow in the shadow, almost imperceptible–but it vanished before I could identify it. A faint whisper brushed against the edges of my thoughts, promising that this was only the firstyer of what was toe.


    And I smiled, sharp and feral, letting the thrill of the hunt and the danger mingle, knowing that the ins were <i>no </i>longer empty.


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