DAMIAN'S POV
Night settled over the northern ridge like a held breath, heavy and unbroken. The kind of darkness that didn't simply arrive but claimed the land, pressing down on stone and soil until even the wind seemed cautious.
They moved beneath it in a staggered line.
Lanterns were shuttered, their light reduced to the faintest internal glow. Footsteps sank into damp earth layered with pine needles and rot, muffled enough that even the forest seemed unaware of their passing. The path was no longer a road, not even a trail in the conventional sense. It was something older—an animal track etched into the landscape by centuries of necessity rather than intention.
Afin walked at the front.
