#Chapter 205 – (un)Mistaken Identity

Damon The trail ended where the forest broke apart into a snowy clearing. I reined in my horse at the ridge, staring down at the village tucked against the trees. Small, quiet, and almost shockingly ordinary. After years of war camps and blood-soaked fields, it looked like a whole other world. The roofs were half-buried in white, smoke curling from chimneys. Someone laughed near the well, the sound carrying faintly through the cold. Children darted between houses, chasing each other through the snow, their shrieks high and unguarded. It was too peaceful. Too still. And yet… the air hummed. I could feel it beneath my skin, that faint, electric thrum, like static under my ribs. Zane stirred in the back of my mind, restless. Do you feel it? “Yes,” I murmured. “It ends here.” We’d followed scraps of rumors and fading scent trails for weeks, and each one had led to nothing. But this – this felt different. The forest itself seemed to hold its breath. I nudged my horse