The intelligence arrived at dawn.
Not through a runner.
Not through a seal.
It came folded into a scrap of bark, weighted with a stone, left just beyond the western ridge where Lyra had buried the token the night before.
Efficient. Discreet.
Ash kept his word.
Lyra read the message once, then again, her expression tightening with every line.
“Ronan’s moving faster than expected,” she said quietly.
Tyler leaned over the table, eyes scanning the marks. “He’s consolidating internal routes, pulling resources inward.”
“Yes,” Lyra agreed. “He’s bracing.”
“For what?” Tyler asked.
Lyra looked up. “For something he doesn’t understand yet.”
She turned the bark over.
Another symbol had been etched beneath the message.
Not Ash’s.
Older.
Sharper.
Her pulse spiked.
“This isn’t just abo
