Omitome_-_girl_with_horse_-_1-to-4_.zip

The rain didn’t just fall in the Lowlands; it claimed the earth, turning the valley into a silver-grey mirror. For Elara, the sound of the downpour against the stable’s tin roof was the only song she’d known since the Fever took the village.

Omitome’s hooves stopped splashing. Instead, they struck the air with the ring of a hammer on an anvil. They were rising, not into the sky, but into the Thinning . Elara gripped the mane, her knuckles white. She could see the village below, frozen like a fly in amber, every raindrop suspended in mid-air.

Elara leaned low over Omitome’s neck. "Faster, girl. We’re almost out of time."

Omitome let out a piercing neigh that shattered the silence. The world folded. The valley disappeared, replaced by a landscape of white sand and obsidian towers. They had reached the Fourth Step—the shortcut through the world’s spine.

They had exactly one hour before the fold snapped back. If they weren't across the third valley by then, they wouldn't just be lost; they would become part of the wind.