**Nymera’s POV**
---
They struck just after dawn.
Not with swords.
With fear.
The eastern orchard burned first—thirty feet of flame twisting into a spiral as it devoured the trees. The wind carried smoke to the walls of Hollowfang before the alarms finished ringing.
By the time we reached the ridge, the Spiralborn had vanished.
But their message was clear:
**You can’t save everything.**
---
Graeven stood beside the scorched tree line, jaw tight, eyes scanning the ash.
“They didn’t even try to kill anyone,” he muttered. “Just burn and vanish.”
“They wanted us to *watch*,” I said.
Kaelith stood on my right, bow across his back, arrows slung loose. “They’re testing your territory now.”
“And our response,” Dain added, stepping out of the smoke.
He looked at me like he had last n
