CHAPTER 59:
The first frost of winter touched the ridge three days later, turning the stone walls white and hardening the earth until it rang beneath our boots. But inside the great hall, it was warm, and crowded, and alive. Nearly a hundred people filled the space — clan leaders, healers, scholars, and ordinary folk who had come from miles around to learn what we had discovered in the Grey Mountains. They sat on benches, on the floor, standing along the walls, their faces serious, their eyes fixed on me as I stood at the front.
“We cannot fight Morgrath with swords,” I began, my voice steady in the quiet room. “Because he does not attack the body. He attacks the mind. He does not conquer land — he conquers desire. He offers you exactly what you most deeply crave: peace, safety, an end t
