Chapter 21: THE FORBIDDEN MEETING

The air was thick with tension as I slipped through the dense forest, the branches overhead casting jagged shadows in the moonlight. My heart hammered in my chest, but I forced myself to stay calm, my senses alert to every sound around me. Each step felt like a gamble, every rustle of the leaves a remainder of the danger I was walking into.

The night was unnervingly quiet, as though the forest itself was holding its breath, waiting for what would come next. I had chosen this place for the meeting because it was secluded, far from Silverclaw, but the isolation now felt suffocating. My mind raced with questions, with doubts, but I couldn’t let them show. Not now.

I arrived at the clearing, the towering trees forming a natural barrier around the small space. The moon hung low in the sky, casting an eerie glow over the forest floor. And then, I saw him—Draven. He stood in the center, his posture calm, almost unnervingly so, as though this meeting was nothing more than a formality to him.