The mountain air was colder than usual, biting at my exposed skin as I adjusted the tattered cloak around my shoulders. The sun had barely breached the jagged horizon, and the plateau was already alive with movement. Wolves of the training pack flowed like shadows across the stones, their bodies glinting with early frost, eyes sharp and assessing. Today was unlike any other drill. Sera’s instructions had been cryptic: “This is no ordinary test. Your body, mind, and bond will all be measured. Fail, and the mountain does not forgive. Succeed, and you take another step toward mastery.”
I had spent countless weeks enduring exhaustion, pain, and repetition. My body was stronger, sharper, honed from the unrelenting drills and grueling hunts. But this… this was different. There was a tension in
