Natalie POV
The ascent from the iron reservoir felt less like a physical climb and more like the lifting of a generational shroud. Behind me, the steady, rhythmic sloshing of three hundred pairs of worn leather boots echoed through the narrow stone corridors of the third ridge, a low, collective hum of movement that replaced the terrified silence that had gripped the drainage vaults for hours. Chloe walked half a step to my right, her hand no longer trembling as she carried the flickering resonance crystal, its green glow now mingling with the faint, pale light of morning filtering down from the upper ventilation grates.
“The heavy vanguard has not shifted their perimeter lines, Natalie,” Selene’s voice murmured within the deep recesses of my mind, her inner wolf standing with a quiet, r
