155: Watched and weighed

Alora’s LOVE

The next morning, I told Rune about the direction the mysterious boy had given me. The moment we set off, the roads took on a strange quality, like we were slipping through the cracks between worlds. It was so so different.

Trees thickened around us, their branches growing darker and knotted, their leaves a shade deeper than green, a color that seemed almost unnatural.

The sky overhead changed, losing its familiar blue hue, now washed in a gray-purple that stretched as far as the eye could see. And yet, even in this strange world, the road remained steady, guiding us like it knew exactly where we needed to go.

The deeper we went, the more unsettling everything became. Soon, the road twisted and coiled like a living thing, the pavement cracking beneath us until it seemed ready to splinter apart.

We shared a silent glance, Rune’s eyes filled with the same unease that clawed at me. Were we supposed to be here? Were we nearing a dead end?

But then, just as the feeling of d