The first light of dawn did not break gently that morning—it flooded the valleys like a tide of molten gold, spilling over the mountain peaks, pouring through the gaps in the Ash-Crest stronghold, and touching every scarred, weary face gathered beneath the great carved tree at its heart. For a long moment, no one spoke. No one moved. We simply stood, breathing in air that tasted sweet and clean for the first time in living memory, watching as the last wisp of shadow curled away into nothing, as if it had never been there at all.
I lifted a hand to my brow, feeling the silver circlet warm against my skin—not heavy, not a burden, but a reminder. The moonstone at my chest pulsed slow and steady, in perfect rhythm with the earth beneath my feet, with the wind moving through the pines, with th
