The sky was still dark when I climbed the ridge.
Mist clung to the ground, thick like breath in winter. The trees behind me were silent, waiting. Orrin walked beside me, his robes brushing the wet grass. He didn't speak much today. Maybe he knew this wasn't just another training session.
I could feel it.
Something inside me had changed since the last howl. I didn't know what it was, but it pulsed in my chest—deep, steady, almost heavy. The moon had answered me once. Now it was time to call again.
But it wasn't just the moon I felt tonight.
It was something else.
Memories maybe.
Or pain.
I stepped into the stone circle and looked up. The moon hovered low in the sky, round and glowing. Clouds moved slow across her face, like fingers brushing silk.
Orrin stopped behind me. "This time," he said, "do not hold back."
I nodded.
