The morning I left Shadow Valley, the sky had not yet decided whether it wanted to be day or night.A grey light stretched across the mountains, soft and uncertain, like the world itself was holding its breath.The valley behind me was already awake. Warriors moved across the stone paths, their armour clinking quietly as they prepared for the war everyone now believed was inevitable. Fires still burned from the night watch, sending thin columns of smoke into the cold air.For a moment, I stood at the edge of the ridge and looked back.Shadow Valley no longer looked like a prison.It looked like a home.A strange one, carved into rock and shadow, but a home all the same.And yet I was leaving it again.Not to return to Silvercrest.But to end something that had been poisoning both places.My bond with Clay.The idea had settled in my mind sometime during the restless hours before dawn. I had lain awake on the narrow bed inside my cavern chamber, staring at the ceiling while my thoughts
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