The morning air was heavy with anticipation, yet calm in its own strange way. Stonehaven’s walls gleamed pale in the soft light of dawn, the mist rolling off the river like slow-moving ghosts that could not decide whether to linger or vanish. Raine stood on the balcony of the central keep, the wind tugging lightly at her hair, and felt the weight of what she had begun.Below, the twelve new guardians were already assembling in the courtyard. Each of them moved with more confidence than the day before, though a subtle tension lingered in their posture. None of them fully understood what it meant to become a guardian of the threshold, but instinctively, they knew that they had been entrusted with something far greater than themselves.Kael appeared silently beside her, golden eyes scanning the group. “They’ve improved,” he said. His voice was low but firm, carrying a hint of approval. “But the network will test them more today. And so will you.”Ra
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