Ashring's folk watched in silence as Corun led them beyond the light.
Mera followed, her expression grim as dusk swallowed the warmth of fire.
They passed through the bone-slat gate, where wind whispered in old tongues.
Children turned their faces, unwilling to watch the reckoning walk by.
Roots twisted beneath their feet like knotted veins of the land.
Even the stars above seemed reluctant to shine over what lay ahead.
Beneath the settlement, the ground opened like a scar long hidden.
This was no path trodden for trade—only memory and loss had walked it.
Mera kept her silence, though her steps never faltered.
Behind her, Corun muttered phrases in a language long buried by ash.
"How far?" Kedes asked, voice low and taut with wary edge.
"Far enough to forget the world above," Corun replied without pause.
Stone gave way to carved sigils, etched with fingers now dust.
Raerin brushed one as they passed, and the wall shivered faintly.
