The sun did not set that evening. It hung low and golden, spilling warmth across fields that had known too many months of shadow, as though the sky itself could not bear to dim the light it had so long withheld. People stepped out of doors slowly, almost fearfully, as if expecting the brightness to vanish in the blink of an eye. They touched the grass, felt the warmth upon their faces, looked upward with eyes squinted against radiance they had nearly forgotten existed. And then, one by one, they began to weep—not from sorrow, but from relief so deep it felt like a physical weight lifting from chest and bone.
I stood upon the highest battlement once more, Kaelen beside me, watching the valley wake to light. He had shed his armor hours ago, yet he still stood tall, his posture bearing the q
