CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
Nine months stretched ahead like an endless frozen corridor. The ice dome had stabilized after the creed was spoken, granting them exactly the promised time.
The air was thin but breathable. The black lake had frozen solid enough to walk across. The sisters had turned the shrinking space into a careful routine of survival, memory, and quiet defiance.
Elena stood at the center of their makeshift camp near the old study area, watching the guardian…the girl they had begun calling “Dawn”...sketch crude maps with Isabella. The two had grown close, the former weapon finding purpose in helping preserve what remained.
Mara led daily strength exercises. Sienna tended their small underground garden.
Nova and Rowan maintained the paths. Jax repaired tools and kept watch ove
