The night was long, though not as quiet as they would have liked.
Strange sounds echoed through the trees. Low hoots, dry rustling, like the tearing of paper, and something deeper, like the hum of power lines underwater.
None of it made sense. Tir'Serene breathed around them in constant motion, and every moment of silence felt like a trap being laid.
Sarissa took first watch. She sat by the dying fire with a sharpened stick in hand, her eyes fixed on the darkness beyond the glow, her thoughts wandering more than she liked.
She thought about the stars, how few of them there were here, and about the night sky back on Earth.
It felt so far away now, like a memory from another life.
Miles slept lightly, curled near Dee and using a bundle of moss and cloth as a makeshift pillow. Even in rest, his hand twitched, as if reaching for something no longer there.
His scythe, his power, his control.
When she nudged him awake sometime later, he blinked blearily and sat up with a grunt.
