Eve
The road stretched ahead of us, winding through the remnants of a once-thriving land. Nostalgia wrapped around me, suspending me between past and present.
Everything felt different now.
Even the air seemed thinner, lacking the same fullness it once had when I was a child, running barefoot through the Market Square, dodging merchants, stealing warm pastries with Crystal.
The air smelled like rotten eggs now. Still, it was home.
And I missed it.
Beside me, Crystal linked her fingers with mine. She always seemed to know when my mind drifted too far, as if we shared some unseen bond.
"Remember when we were little? How we used to hold hands like this all the time?" She swung our hands between us, and a wistful smile played on her lips.
I smiled. "Back then, we didn’t have to worry about politics. Or betrayals. Or
