Leah Carter’s Point of View
The air before war never feels like silence. It feels like the world holding its breath.
The forests around the Hollow had gone still, no rustle of wings, no howl of distant wolves. Even the river nearby had slowed, its current sluggish, as though the land itself waited for what was coming.
Kael stood at the northern edge of the camp, overlooking the fog that crawled between the trees. His armor was blackened steel, etched with faint silver runes that glowed beneath the dawn light. He didn’t move for a long time, his eyes fixed on the horizon where the forest met the mist.
Behind him, the camp stirred to life. The allied clans, Ashfang, Iron Pelt, Thorns, and others, had gathered under a single banner. Fires burned in wide pits, casting orange light over sha
