{"The wave paused, and then drew out again, sighing like a sleeper whose breath comes and goes unconsciously."}
We moved in silence, the path winding down through the whispering pines of Sagstone Mountain, our steps softened by the forest floor beneath us. The air grew warmer, laced with salt and sea, and ahead, I caught the shimmer of sunlight dancing on water.
We broke through the last of the trees and stepped onto the cliff ridge overlooking the shoreline. Below us lay the beachfront, usually calm, silver-blue, and cradled in the embrace of Bay Shifter lands. Waves churned, unnatural in their rhythm, rising higher, crashing down in furious bursts that soaked the sand and clawed at the stones. Foam seethed along the shoreline like breath from some sleeping beast that had begun to stir.
Beside me, Freyr stiffened. His fingers gripped mine tightly. "The sea shouldn't be this wild," he murmured.
