They left the ruins behind at dawn.
Not quickly. Not quietly. But deliberately—making no attempt to hide the fact that they were moving, nor advertising it either. The wolves ranged ahead and to the flanks, silent shadows threading between stone and scrub. The believers followed in loose clusters, not marching, not ordered. People walked beside those they trusted. Distance formed where it was needed.
Elara walked at the center without claiming it.
The land changed as they traveled south.
Where the north had been jagged and raw, this country smoothed itself into long, sloping hills and ancient forests whose canopies knitted tight overhead. The air grew warmer, heavier, scented with loam and old water. The bond hummed differently here—less strained, more… reserved. Like a held breath tha
