Chapter 23

• The early morning light bathed the forest in a golden hue as Amara walked through the remains of the latest rogue attack. The village outskirts were a scene of devastation—homes reduced to smoldering ruins, fields trampled underfoot, and the air thick with the acrid scent of smoke. Xander and Asher stood nearby, speaking quietly with their warriors, but Amara’s focus was elsewhere. Her sharp eyes scanned the scene, taking in the patterns of destruction.
• Something wasn’t right.
• She moved carefully among the wreckage, her boots crunching over the charred ground. The rogues had left behind an unusual number of broken weapons and torn fabric, as though they had been in a hurry to retreat. The attack was too calculated to be random, and the damage was too deliberate to be a simple raid.