The land began to rise without announcement.
One morning the ground was level and forgiving; by afternoon the road had thinned into a slope stitched with stone and scrub. The air felt different up therecooler, thinner, honest in a way lowlands rarely managed.
Aurelia liked it immediately.
Climbing required attention without urgency. Each step mattered, but none decided anything beyond the next foothold. It was the kind of effort she had once dismissed as trivial.
Now it felt precise.
Kane walked a few paces ahead, testing loose rock with the edge of his boot. “We could’ve taken the lower pass,” he called back.
“We could’ve,” she agreed.
“But we didn’t.”
“No,” she said. “We didn’t.”
They both knew why.
The higher path offered no advantage. No faster route. No strategic oversight.
