The silence stretched between them like a taut wire, heavy with anticipation and something else—something that made the very air around them seem to shimmer with an otherworldly presence. Arthur felt his breath catch in his throat as his eyes adjusted to the ethereal figure before them.
She stood exactly ten feet away from them, positioned with the grace of someone who had never known uncertainty or fear. Her white hair flowed gracefully down to the middle of her back, each strand catching the ambient light as if it were spun from moonbeams themselves. The locks moved with an almost hypnotic rhythm, swaying gently despite the absence of any discernible breeze. Her piercing pure gold eyes seemed to peer directly into their souls, searching, evaluating, perhaps even judging what lay within the depths of their beings.
