The fourth rule beyond the wall arrived without sound.
Silence, when it lasted too long, was never peace.
Lyra felt it settle sometime before dawn, when the night refused to thin, and the ridgelines held their breath. No movement. No distant echoes. Even the wind seemed to hesitate, as if waiting for permission.
Tyler noticed it at the exact moment she did.
“They’ve gone quiet,” he said.
“Yes,” Lyra replied. “Which means they’re finished asking questions.”
They stood side by side on the upper wall, cloaks pulled tight, eyes scanning terrain that had suddenly become too still to trust.
Pressure had sharpened into focus.
By midmorning, the silence had infected the outpost.
No probes.
No symbols.
No watchers visible.
Scouts returned empty-handed, unease etched into their faces.
“
