Chase
*****Late Afternoon — The Eastern Sanctum, Beyond New Silverfang*****
Lucian had been gone for less than a day.
And somehow, the world had already decided to test whether we could stand without him.
I felt it before anyone spoke about it.
That pressure in the air.
That wrongness that didn’t belong to peace.
New Silverfang was alive behind us, hammers ringing, voices rising, banners still hanging from the coronation, but the farther east we rode, the quieter everything became. The road narrowed. Trees thickened. Even the birds stopped making noise.
That was never a good sign.
Finn rode ahead of us, straight-backed, alert. Not stiff with fear, focused. He wore the crown less than twenty-four hours now, but it already sat on him like it belonged there.
Fia was beside him, hood
