Morning came without ceremony in Black Hollow.
No alarms. No signals. No urgency from the sky or the wind.
Just light slowly spreading through the trees, touching the edges of the village like something cautious.
Ayla was already awake.
That had become normal now.
Sleep didn’t come easily anymore—not the kind that rested her mind. So she had stopped waiting for it to feel complete. She simply woke when her body decided it was enough.
And went to train.
The clearing was still empty when she arrived.
Mist hovered low over the grass, softening the edges of everything. The river nearby moved slowly, almost lazily, as if it had nowhere urgent to be.
Ayla stepped into the center of the clearing and rolled her shoulders once.
Then she waited.
Luca arrived a few minutes later.
No words
