The Vanishing Path

Previously

…But as she watched, a disquieting unease began to creep in, an unsettling counterpoint to the awe. The path’s glow seemed to deepen, to pulse with a more insistent rhythm. And with that intensification, a subtle shift occurred in the village itself. A low moan, like the wind through a hollow bone, swept through Oakhaven. It wasn’t the wind. It was the sound of something lost, something yearning. Then