Dawn broke pale and thin, bleeding grey across the horizon. There was no warmth in that light, no comfort—only a cold, heavy stillness that clung to skin and bone. We gathered beneath the high walls, every warrior clad in dark leathers and steel, bows strung, blades sharpened. No songs were sung. No boasts were made. Even the wind fell silent, as if holding its breath, waiting to see who would emerge from the shadows alive.
I stood before them, wrapped in a cloak of deep silver, the blade at my hip catching the faint light. Kaelen stood at my right hand—not above me, not before me, but beside me, exactly as he had sworn. His expression was set in stone, his gaze steady, radiating that quiet, unshakable strength that once I had been too hurt to recognize.
"Selene thinks fear will keep us
