The sky turned pale.
Not gold. Not yet. Just grey, like it couldn’t decide if it wanted to be day or night.
I was already awake.
I’d barely slept. None of us had. But we were up. All 11 of us on the wall.
The torches were out. The air was cold.
And past the tree line, the bells were ringing.
Soft at first. Then faster.
“They’re moving,” Toren said. His voice was low. “East side.”
Kael stood beside me. No armor. Just a knife at his belt and dirt on his hands from digging traps all day.
“Everyone remember,” he said. Not loud. Steady. “We don’t chase. We don’t break. We hold.”
Heads nodded.
Jace was to my right. His wooden stick was gone. He had a real spear now. Dell made it last night from a straight branch and a piece of scrap.
“You okay?” he whispered to me.
I nodded. The
