The Shadow Crystal’s Curse

The sun rose slowly, its light stretching thin over the treetops, but the tension between Asher and me remained thick. I hadn’t slept. I kept replaying our conversation in my mind, searching for some hidden meaning, some reassurance that I could still trust him. But there was nothing to grasp, only fragments of his half-truths and a silence too heavy to ignore.

At the edge of camp, Elijah’s words haunted me: *You can’t let it distract you. Not now.* And yet, it was impossible to focus on anything else. Asher had kept crucial information from me—and if there was more hidden behind his mask, how much more danger were we in?

I needed to clear my head. The Heartstone, warm beneath my fingertips, hummed softly as I turned it over in my hand. Its energy comforted me, but even it carried secrets. Just like Asher, like Rory—like everything in this world.