Morning broke thin and colorless, the sky stretched tight as parchment over the land. The ravine camp felt smaller now—not because its space had changed, but because its purpose had.
They had been seen.
Not rumored.
Not speculated.
Confirmed.
Aurelia sat apart from the others, her back against the stone, the fire reduced to embers between them. The bond beneath her skin felt compressed, quieter than it had ever been, like something coiled so tightly it could no longer afford careless movement.
She did not reach for it.
She was learning what it meant to live without assuming its answer.
Tarin crouched near the embers, feeding the fire carefully, eyes flicking up every so often to where Aurelia sat. Lio paced along the edge of the ravine, restless energy barely contained.
"You shouldn't have done that," Lio said at last, stopping abruptly. "You blocked them. For us."
Aurelia lifted her gaze calmly. "Yes."
"And now they'll come back," he snapped. "With more."
