The road to the village was quieter than it should have been.
John noticed it almost immediately.
There were no merchants coming from the opposite direction. No farmers bringing goods toward town. Not even the usual sounds of travelers complaining about the road.
Only wind.
The trees on both sides of the road moved slowly as the afternoon breeze passed through them.
John walked near the front of the group, his eyes moving between the road and the forest.
He hadn't mentioned the feeling again.
There was no point.
Something had noticed the third fragment.
He was sure of that.
The strange part was the feeling itself.
It hadn't felt like Varin.
It hadn't felt like Rovan.
It hadn't felt like the hunters they had fought before.
It had been weaker than the First Guardian, but there was something familiar about it.
The same kind of connection he had felt when the Legacy first responded to him.
John glanced at his hand.
The golden mark was still there.
