The rogue’s eyes never left me as I followed him through the storm, my every step echoing the turmoil swirling in my chest. We moved in silence, the harsh rain masking any other noise, leaving the forest eerily quiet save for the steady rhythm of the storm.
The man was an enigma, moving with an ease and precision that betrayed both his strength and experience. His cloak billowed behind him, his posture upright, and the way he navigated the uneven ground spoke of someone who had spent a lifetime in the wild, attuned to its rhythms, its dangers.
His earlier words echoed in my mind: Truth comes with a price.
I had no doubt that the path I had chosen would be far more difficult than I had anticipated. But the alternative, returning to the territories, where Kael’s shadow loomed large, where
