---
They followed a descending game trail southeast, golden leaves crunching underfoot like delicate parchment. The trees thinned as they moved farther from camp, their gnarled trunks bending outward from ancient shifts in the land. Shafts of late morning light speared through the canopy, casting warm amber hues over the path, while small winged insects buzzed lazily in the hush. Emberwood forest's outer ring smelled of warm resin and iron; it was the scent of old sap, scorched bark, and buried heat. Fissures in the earth cracked across their path like claw marks, and in several places, the soil radiated a low glow with magma veins skimming close beneath, pulsing dim orange between stone ribs.
