CHAPTER 28: THE ROAD HOME
The sun hung low and honey‑gold over the pine‑cloaked ridges the day we marked our community network’s first full year. Warm summer wind tugged at flags strung along the compound fences — not the sharp old club colors, not formal state emblems, just simple cloth stitched with the viper and compass patch, cut and sewn by hands from a dozen different towns, homesteads, and chapters across three counties. Every seat in the main hall was filled, and more people stood outside on the porch and lawn, listening through the open doors, their voices soft with quiet excitement and the gentle weight of belonging.
Kael stood at the front, looking out over faces he’d never seen a year before: weathered farmers in scuffed work boots and faded wide‑brim hats, shopkeepers from s
