CHAPTER 62:
The first sign came not with a shout or a battle horn, but with a quiet knock at my door just before dawn. It was Elara — not the aunt from the temple, but the healer from the western valley, her face pale, her hands trembling beneath her woolen shawl. Behind her stood three others, their eyes red-rimmed, their shoulders hunched as if carrying something heavy.
“He came to them,” Elara said, her voice barely above a whisper. “All three. And not just once. Every time they closed their eyes. All night long.”
I pulled the door wide and gestured them in, already reaching for my cloak. “Tell me exactly what happened. Every word. Every feeling.”
They sat around the hearth, the fire still low, and one by one they spoke. The dreams were different now — sharper, more personal, less l
