The moon hung low and red, casting long shadows across the sleeping halls of the Moon Pack estate. But I couldn't sleep.
Even after Colvin vanished, after the mirror shattered and the Seer disappeared, there was no peace. No quiet that didn't carry the promise of more.
I sat alone in the war room, staring at maps I no longer trusted. Borders were bleeding. Alliances fraying. The world was shifting beneath our feet.
Auren hadn't stirred since we returned. He slept like someone who had burned through all of himself. I didn't know what scared me more that he'd stay asleep or that he'd wake changed again.
Lucas entered quietly, scroll in hand. "Another message."
I raised an eyebrow. "From the Council?"
"No," he said. "From the Elders of the North Fang Mountains."
I blinked. "They never send word."
Lucas unrolled it and placed it on the table.
We saw the sky burn. The child is marked. Send him. The gate remembers.
I read it twice. "The gate?"
