The silence after war was never truly silent.
Aurelia felt it in the way the ground still hummed beneath her feet, as if the land itself hadn’t yet decided whether it was safe to breathe again. The sky above the broken valley was streaked with pale light, dawn trying to rise through smoke and lingering shadow.
She stood at the center of it all.
Not as a queen.
Not as a savior.
Not as a monster.
Just like herself.
Kane stood beside her, close enough that their shoulders brushed. He hadn’t let go of her hand since the last echo of the Voidborne faded from the air. His grip was steady, grounding real in a way nothing else was.
Around them, survivors gathered cautiously.
Moonborn.
Sunborn.
Sovereign wolves.
Even those who had once hunted her.
They kept their distance, eyes filled
