ELOWEN
The gates swung open without a sound.
Whatever I'd expected — guards checking IDs, intercoms crackling, some kind of security protocol — it wasn't this. The wolves at the gate simply stepped aside and bowed their heads as our convoy rolled through, their eyes tracking Fao through the tinted windows like he was a comet streaking across the sky.
Beyond the gates, the compound opened up.
It was bigger than I'd imagined. The main lodge dominated the center — that massive timber-and-stone structure I'd glimpsed from the road — but around it spread a small village. Cabins dotted the hillsides, connected by stone pathways. Training grounds sprawled to the east, obstacle courses and sparring rings visible even from here. To the west, what looked like stables and equipment sheds. Gardens
