The stone-walled quarters inside the officer sector of the Duskwood military barracks were safe, warm, and quiet, yet they felt exactly like a gilded cage to Nadia. Ever since Commander Jax had secured her safety ten days prior, she had barely seen him. She had spent her long hours restricted to this private room, her physical body slowly recovering thanks to the rich soldier rations and medical salves Jax had ordered for her. But her mind had remained in a state of constant, agonizing restlessness.
That evening, the entire military fortress was humming with a tense, chaotic energy. Through the high, iron-barred window of her chamber, Nadia had heard the distant, booming blasts of the sun-horns, followed by a terrifying, unnatural rumble that had shaken the very foundation of the barracks
