C164 THE EVIL NIGHT THAT DIDN'T PAY

The night did not behave the way nights usually did.

It did not settle.

It did not soften.

It pressed.

Even the wind seemed impatient, as if the air itself waited for something to break.

Elara felt it before she saw anything change.

The firelight around the camp flickered once, then again, not from wind but from something deeper—like the world taking in and forgetting how to exhale again