Chapter 106

Callista's POV The first sign that we had crossed into the affected zone was the silence. Not the natural quiet of deep forest, but something more absolute—as if sound itself had forgotten how to behave properly. Our horses' hooves made no noise against the stone path, yet I could hear conversations that might have taken place here centuries ago, phantom voices discussing trade routes and pilgrim offerings to gods whose names had been lost to time. "Stay close," Kaelos commanded, his voice cutting through the temporal echoes with reassuring solidity. "Trust only what I confirm." I nocked an arrow without conscious thought, letting muscle memory guide my preparations while my mind struggled to process what my eyes were seeing. The path ahead of us existed in at least three different states simultaneously—sometimes ancient stonework worn smooth by countless feet, sometimes rough dirt barely wide enough for single file, sometimes a gleaming causeway of some crystal material that hadn't ex