{"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or an evil creature or a god"}
The Rogourau breathing was ragged, its golden eyes locked onto me with something between hatred and recognition. Every instinct I had screamed at me to step back, to put as much distance as possible between myself and the beast that could rip through steel like parchment.
But I didn't move. I couldn't. Something in the air shifted sharp, electric, like the very mountain was holding its breath. My chest tightened as a strange warmth pulsed against my ribs. Then, without warning, the Kayne Stone at my neck lit up. A deep, unnatural glow spilled beneath my shirt, seeping through the fabric like molten silver. The second it flared to life, the Rogourau's entire body seized.