Chapter 34 The Ones Who Know Too Much

• The road stretched long beneath their boots, winding like a scar through the edge of the northern forest, now thinning into a grey, quiet land.
• The silence between them wasn’t comfortable. It was heavy.
• Kayne walked ahead of the group. Not quickly. Not slowly. Just enough to feel like the world around him was suspended in amber. His steps weren’t confident anymore—they were precise. Like each one mattered. Like the earth might shift beneath him if he got lazy.