Chapter 43: THE MEMORY OF THE WILD

They did not sleep that night.

Even after the camp quieted and the fires burned low, Ciara remained awake, sitting at the edge of the clearing with her knees drawn to her chest. The forest no longer felt like trees and shadows.

It felt like presence.

Like memory.

Levion watched her from a short distance away. He had tried, twice, to lie down. Both times he found himself staring up at the sky, listening to the silence between the sounds, feeling as though something vast had shifted just out of sight.

By the third attempt, he gave up and walked to her.

“You should rest,” he said.

Ciara didn’t look at him. “I’m not tired.”

“That’s not possible.”

She gave a faint shake of her head. “I don’t feel the way I used to. It’s like my body is… listening.”

Levion followed her gaze into the dark trees. “To what?”

Ciara searched for the words.

“Everything.”

He stood beside her for a while without speaking.

Finally, she said, “You don’t think I’m losing my mind, do you?”

Levion answered without hesitation. “No.”

That surprised her enough that she turned.

“Why not?”

“Because I feel it too,” he admitted quietly.

She studied him.

Levion wasn’t a man who said things he didn’t mean. If he claimed to feel it, then he truly did.

“The forest feels different,” he continued. “Like it’s aware of us.”

Ciara nodded. “Not us. Me.”

Levion didn’t argue.

That silence said more than agreement.

A branch snapped somewhere in the distance. Not loud. Not threatening. Just movement.

Ciara’s head turned slightly toward the sound before she realized she had reacted.

She hadn’t heard it.

She had felt it.

Levion noticed.

“You knew where that came from before it happened,” he said.

Ciara frowned. “I didn’t think about it. I just… knew.”

Levion exhaled slowly. “You’re going to have to teach me how to stand next to you without feeling like I’m the one out of place.”

Ciara almost smiled.

Almost.

“I don’t feel powerful,” she said. “I feel like something is waking up around me, not inside me.”

Levion considered that.

“Maybe that’s the difference,” he said. “Wolves draw power inward. You… seem to pull it outward.”

The thought settled into her mind and refused to leave.

Before she could respond, Zayn approached from the edge of camp.

“You two should see this,” he said quietly.

They stood at once.

Zayn led them a short distance beyond the clearing to where the earth dipped slightly toward a narrow stream. Several of the hunters were already there, staring down at the ground.

Ciara stepped forward.

The soil near the stream was damp, dark from recent moisture.

And through it—

Green shoots were pushing up from the earth.

Fresh.

New.

Impossible.

Zayn pointed. “This wasn’t here yesterday.”

One of the hunters nodded. “Nothing grows this fast. Not even in spring.”

Ciara crouched slowly.

Her fingers hovered above the small leaves without touching them.

She could feel it.

The same hum she felt in her chest.

Levion watched her carefully. “This is because of you.”

Ciara didn’t answer.

Because she knew he was right.

“I didn’t do anything,” she said quietly.

Zayn gave a short, disbelieving huff. “That’s exactly the problem.”

Ciara looked up at him.

“You don’t have to do anything,” he said. “It’s happening anyway.”

She rose slowly to her feet.

Aren’s words echoed in her mind.

Remind the forest who it belongs to.

They returned to camp in silence, but the air had changed again.

The hunters were whispering now. Not in fear. Not in doubt.

In awe.

Ciara could feel their eyes on her.

And for the first time, it didn’t make her uncomfortable.

It made her aware.

Levion walked beside her as they reached the fire.

“They’re starting to feel it,” he said.

Ciara nodded. “I know.”

“Are you ready for what that means?”

She paused before answering.

“No,” she admitted.

Levion gave a faint nod. “Good.”

She glanced at him.

“Why is that good?”

“Because people who think they’re ready for something like this usually destroy it.”

Ciara absorbed that quietly.

Across the camp, Eryx was watching her with the same thoughtful intensity he had carried since the cave.

He approached slowly.

“The growth near the stream,” he said. “It’s not normal vegetation.”

Ciara tilted her head slightly. “What do you mean?”

Eryx knelt and opened his palm. Inside were tiny petals—white, thin, almost translucent.

“These flowers haven’t grown in this region for centuries,” he said. “Hunters only know them from stories.”

Ciara took one carefully.

It was cool against her skin.

“What are they called?” she asked.

Eryx hesitated.

“Firstlight blooms.”

The name sent a quiet shiver through her.

“They were said to grow wherever the First walked,” he added.

Ciara’s breath caught slightly.

Levion looked between them. “You’re saying this confirms it.”

Eryx nodded once. “Yes.”

Ciara stared at the small flower in her hand.

She didn’t feel pride.

She didn’t feel fear.

She felt… responsibility.

Heavy and unavoidable.

“I can’t go back to being what I was,” she said quietly.

Levion’s voice was steady. “You were never what they said you were.”

She met his eyes.

For the first time, there was no distance between them.

No rejection.

No misunderstanding.

Just recognition.

And somewhere deep inside Ciara, a quiet certainty settled.

The world she had known was ending.

And something much older was beginning to remember itself through her.