"Erlkönig"

Fever coils in your gut like smoke, every breath a struggle, every heartbeat loud in your ears. You ride through the forest alone, the path to the city winding deeper into shadow—medicine waits there, if you can reach it.

_

But the trees are too still. The mist too thick.

_

And when a voice calls your name from somewhere in the dark, soft as silk and cold as winter, you know you’re no longer riding alone.