The summons came at dawn.I knew before the flap even stirred. The camp had a rhythm, a pulse I’d learned to read—when the soldiers woke, when the drills began, when meals clattered into bowls. But this morning the cadence shifted. Boots crunched closer, halting outside our tent. The pause stretched long enough to thicken the air.Kaia already had her blade across her knees. Asher braced himself with his good arm, jaw clenched against the pain. Even the kid had gone quiet, huddled in the furs like a rabbit sensing the hawk overhead.The flap pulled back.Not the scarred soldier this time. A younger one, cleaner armor, face too smooth for the edge in his eyes. “The Commander requests you.”Kaia rose instantly. “She’s not going alone.”The soldier’s smirk said he’d expected that. “Fine. But all of you will stand before him. Now.”Asher swore under his breath, trying to lever himself up. I caught his arm before his wound tore. “You’re not ready—”“Like hell I’m staying behind,” he rasped
The camp never slept. Even with night pressing down, torches burned steadily along the perimeter, shadows moving in rigid patterns as soldiers marched, sharpened blades, polished armor until it gleamed like ice under flame. The rhythm of their movements was a language in itself: precise, controlled, unyielding. This was no wandering band—they belonged to someone, and that someone had the kind of power that bent men into silent discipline. I lay awake long after Kaia’s breathing slowed into a meditative rhythm, after the kid’s soft snores muffled against the furs. Asher was less quiet—he stirred every so often, low groans slipping past clenched teeth when pain dragged him half-conscious. His hand never released mine. Not once. My thoughts circled like vultures. The Commander’s words—for now—echoed sharper with each loop. Shelter was never given freely. Not in this world. Especially not to the likes of us, half-dead strays dragged bleeding out of the mountains. We weren’t guests her
The summons came at dawn.I knew before the flap even stirred. The camp had a rhythm, a pulse I’d learned to read—when the soldiers woke, when the drills began, when meals clattered into bowls. But this morning the cadence shifted. Boots crunched closer, halting outside our tent. The pause stretched long enough to thicken the air.Kaia already had her blade across her knees. Asher braced himself with his good arm, jaw clenched against the pain. Even the kid had gone quiet, huddled in the furs like a rabbit sensing the hawk overhead.The flap pulled back.Not the scarred soldier this time. A younger one, cleaner armor, face too smooth for the edge in his eyes. “The Commander requests you.”Kaia rose instantly. “She’s not going alone.”The soldier’s smirk said he’d expected that. “Fine. But all of you will stand before him. Now.”Asher swore under his breath, trying to lever himself up. I caught his arm before his wound tore. “You’re not ready—”“Like hell I’m staying behind,” he rasped
The camp never slept. Even with night pressing down, torches burned steadily along the perimeter, shadows moving in rigid patterns as soldiers marched, sharpened blades, polished armor until it gleamed like ice under flame. The rhythm of their movements was a language in itself: precise, controlled, unyielding. This was no wandering band—they belonged to someone, and that someone had the kind of power that bent men into silent discipline.I lay awake long after Kaia’s breathing slowed into a meditative rhythm, after the kid’s soft snores muffled against the furs. Asher was less quiet—he stirred every so often, low groans slipping past clenched teeth when pain dragged him half-conscious. His hand never released mine. Not once.My thoughts circled like vultures.The Commander’s words—for now—echoed sharper with each loop. Shelter was never given freely. Not in this world. Especially not to the likes of us, half-dead strays dragged bleeding out of the mountains. We weren’t guests here. W
The first rays of dawn bled across the plateau, turning the snow a pale, unforgiving gray. The fire was just embers now, hissing weakly against the cold wind. My body screamed at me to stay down, to sink back into the warmth of the bedroll, but I forced my spine straight. Weakness was a luxury I couldn’t afford—not here, not with these soldiers watching us like wolves sizing up prey.Kaia had already strapped her blade across her back, movements sharp and economical. Not a strand of her hair was out of place, not a flicker of pain visible even though I knew she was running on fumes the same as me. She was carved from stone, as untouchable as the ridge itself.Asher, though… he looked worse than I did. His face was a roadmap of exhaustion, ribs bound tight beneath bloodied cloth. He held himself together with spit and sheer spite, and still his arm never left the kid curled against him. He didn’t even blink when the scarred soldier barked orders to break camp.The kid stirred, mumbling
It clawed through my skin like wildfire, coiling in my veins until I swore I could feel smoke curling out of me. Every breath burned, every shift of my body cracked me open wider, and still I couldn’t wake.The dark pressed in on me, thick and suffocating, not empty but full—full of voices, claws, hands that weren’t hands dragging at me, whispering promises I didn’t understand.Give in. Lay down. It’s easier this way.No.I fought them. Gods, I fought until my chest ached, until my body thrashed against something solid and unyielding. My name echoed in the dark—sometimes sharp, sometimes soft.“Asher.”The word tore out of me like a prayer and a curse all at once.And suddenly the fire swallowed the shadows.---I was running. Not the careful, tactical kind of running I’d done all my life, but the desperate kind—the kind that tore the soles of your feet raw and left your lungs ragged. The snowstorm howled behind me, but I couldn’t feel the cold. Only the heat, blistering and endless,