CHAPTER 5
Timeline: 2 Weeks After Homecoming
The storm rolled in at dusk—heavy, black clouds swallowing the mountains, thunder rumbling low and constant like a warning. Inside, the air hummed with a different kind of tension. Kael had been restless all day, pacing the perimeter, touching every lock twice, his shoulders permanently hunched like he was waiting for a blow.
I found him in the kitchen after dinner, staring out the window at the lashing rain, his knuckles white where he gripped the counter.
“You haven’t eaten since lunch.” I set a plate down beside him. “And you haven’t stopped moving since sunrise.”
“I can feel it.” He didn’t look at me. “Something’s coming. Not just the storm. Something… old. Hungry. It’s not the Council. Not exactly. It’s bigger.”
Before I could answer
