CHAPTER 42:
Seven days passed, and the valley transformed into a fortress. The outer camp was dismantled; every person, every tent, every supply moved up onto the ridge, within the high stone walls. Watchfires blazed along the perimeter every night, and riders circled the valley in relays, their horses always fresh, their eyes scanning every trail and gully. No one slept more than a few hours at a time. No one let their guard down. The air hummed with a taut, electric tension, as if the whole mountain held its breath.
I stood on the western watchtower at dawn, Kael beside me, our breath pluming white in the cold air. Below, the valley lay quiet and empty, stripped of all trace of our former camp. Only the stone walls rising from the ridge spoke of life—thousands of people waiting, watchi
