Chapter 48. The Ashen Path

The mist swallowed them whole.

Selene led the way, the newly forged bond with the Bone Forest pulsing faintly under her skin like a second heartbeat. Each step forward felt like walking deeper into a mouth that could close at any moment.

The wolves moved in silence, their eyes wary, every sense sharpened by exhaustion and fear. Around them, the trees changed: bark blackened as if charred, leaves pale and crisp like old paper. The ground beneath their feet turned soft and ash-gray, muffling footsteps but staining fur and boots alike.

They had entered the Ashen Path.

A cursed corridor whispered of only in the oldest stories—a place where the forest mourned itself.

Selene inhaled slowly. Even the air tasted different here—dry, metallic, tinged with sorrow.

"Stay close," she called back, voice low but firm.