-Elara Voss:
Night had fully settled over the road, the sky a deep stretch of ink-blue with faint stars trying to push through the heavy clouds.
The air had cooled, crisp and quiet except for the distant hum of nocturnal creatures stirring in the trees.
The watchtower we'd stopped at was nothing more than a broken skeleton of stone and moss, abandoned long ago.
The structure was barely standing, half of it crumbling from age, but it would do for the night.
The grumpy hunter had made it clear he wasn't going to let me slow him down, so we wouldn't be stopping for long—just enough to rest before moving on.
I was exhausted.
Even though I'd spent hours chattering his ear off, my body ached from the long ride, and my legs still felt like they were stuck in a riding position.
My arms burned too, thanks to gripping his waist the whole time—which, by the way, was ridiculously solid. Seriously. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was carved out of stone.
