I sat on the cliff overlooking the river, watching the gentle currents weave an elegant dance around the jagged rocks and patches of ice below. The sun dipped lower in the sky, casting elongated shadows that felt like a reflection of the turmoil in my heart—a week had passed since we returned from the Whispering Reef—a week filled with memories and guilt that clung to me like an oppressive mist. I could still hear the waves crashing against the doomed vessel, the haunting cries echoing through the darkness. Declan's death had been an accident, or so everyone tried to convince me. But deep down, I felt a gnawing certainty: his death was tied to me, bound by a surge of magic I couldn't control.
Drawing in a shuddering breath, I pulled my knees up to my chest and watched the river flow, its
