Twin Pines was a modest cluster of slate-roofed houses and a single long-house that served as inn, store, and unofficial town hall. It sat at the point where the mountain path finally leveled into foothill road. The party reached it at midday, dusty, hungry, and still slightly surprised that the world continued to happen in the correct order.
The settlement had already heard something. Spiral marks—crude but recognizable—had been chalked on two doors and the long-house lintel. When Lira’s scars became visible, a small crowd gathered with the particular caution of people who had lived near the Echo Hold their whole lives and trusted nothing that came down from it.
The long-house keeper was a broad woman named Branna who took one look at Ysara and pulled her into a brief, fierce hug. “You
