KAEL
The general’s final breath still echoed in my ears, a hunted rasp that clung to the wind like ash. I hadn’t moved from where he died, his blood soaking the earth beneath us. The silence that followed was heavy, stretched with things unspoken. I couldn’t get the image out of my mind—his trembling fingers, pointing toward Mashik and Zane before his body finally gave out. Not one word, just that damning gesture.
I wanted to shake him, demand clarity, and scream at him for dying before finishing what he’d started. But death doesn’t bargain. And now, I was left with a puzzle missing its final piece—and the haunting knowledge that someone close had betrayed me.
Or, maybe not.
Maybe he had been wrong, or maybe he wanted to manipulate me one last time. But how could I tell? How could I tr
