The dawn after battle always held a strange kind of stillness. Highridge Fortress stood bruised but standing, its scars still fresh. Smoke curled in thin tendrils from the burned siege towers, rising like ghosts into the pale morning sky.
Kaelin stood at the war table, her gaze heavy on the map unfurled before her. The Eastern Claw's forces had pulled back overnight, disappearing into the mists blanketing the Shattered Wilds. She could feel it in her bones—this wasn’t a retreat. It was a regrouping.
Lira entered the chamber, her armor gleaming despite the exhaustion etched into her face. "We’ve secured the outer defenses. Scouts confirm their trail leads east."
Kaelin traced her finger across the jagged edges of the map. The eastern territories were unforgiving, riddled with canyons and
