C72 The Flame Beneath

The trail twisted east into stony hills, where the trees thinned and the sky widened, pale and unblinking.

They followed no map. Only the pull of rhythm.

By midday, the ground changed—harder, darker, marked by hairline cracks that shimmered faintly in the light. Ember paused, crouching beside one.

“It’s warm,” she said.

Elin knelt beside her. “Like something breathing beneath us