They returned to camp at dusk.
Not in a rush. Not with fanfare.
Just quietly, hand in hand, the way people do when they’ve survived something unspeakable and still choose softness.
The others looked up as they emerged from the treeline. Raze stood first, tension rippling through his frame. Cain’s hand dropped to his blade out of habit, but his eyes widened when he saw her.
Vess didn’t move at all. She simply exhaled and whispered, “She’s whole.”
Aelira didn’t speak. She only met their stares with calm, glowing eyes, her fingers still laced with Astren’s. No one asked where she had been. The grove had already told them.
Raze stepped forward slowly, eyes flicking between the two of them. “You… look different.”
“She is,” Astren said simply.
Aelira nodded. “But not someone else. Just m
