Chapter 54 The Oath Beneath The Flame

• The sun broke over the mountains like a wound splitting open, bleeding light across the ruined fields of Drenhall. Smoke still hung in the air, but it no longer stifled. It whispered of what had been lost—and what might yet be rebuilt.
• Kael stood on the eastern rise, his cloak trailing behind him like a torn banner. The night had been long, filled with whispered councils and shared grief. He hadn’t slept. None of them had.
• Elira approached quietly, her steps muffled by the ash-strewn ground. She stopped beside him, her hand brushing his without taking it. Her touch was a tether.