Chapter 62: I Need Strength

The forest was quiet, too quiet.

The kind of silence that presses against your ears, making every step I took sound louder than it should.

My boots crunched against the dirt path, the sound echoing faintly through the trees.

The moon hung high above, its pale light filtering through the dense canopy, casting long, jagged shadows across the ground.

It was midnight, or close to it, and the air was cool, carrying the faint scent of damp earth and pine.

I sighed heavily.

I was exhausted.

My legs felt like they were made of lead, each step requiring more effort than the last.

My shoulders ached, and my head throbbed with a dull, persistent pain.

But I couldn't stop.

Not now.

Not when there was so much at stake.

Ori floated beside me, his form a swirling mass of black mist that seemed to absorb the moonlight rather than reflect it.