Timeline: TC1853.01.25 (Late Morning)
Location: Whispering Forest Route, Western Road
The trees began singing three hours past dawn.
Raven heard them first—a low vibration that wasn't quite sound, more like reality itself humming at a frequency just below conscious perception. The convoy had left the farmlands behind an hour ago, entering the forested belt that separated Imperial territory from the Federation borderlands. Ancient ironwood trees rose like cathedral pillars on either side of the road, their bark marked with centuries of weathering and growth.
Beautiful. Ominous. Wrong.
She reined in her horse, the mare tossing her head with nervous energy that suggested animals sensed what humans couldn't quite articulate. Behind her, the six wagons continued their steady rumble—oxen pulling with methodical patience, spiritual engines humming their mechanical counterpoint to organic life.
