Chapter 103

• Kael’s Pov
• We had journeyed so far that my bones ached, though I dared not show it. A leader does not falter in front of his men. Days had blurred into nights, the endless rhythm of our footsteps a steady reminder that rest was a luxury we could not afford. The air itself was heavy, charged with the scent of something foul lingering ahead. We scouted every ridge, every stretch of barren land, yet no signs gave us away until it was too late.
• The ambush came swift, too swift for even my instincts to catch in time. One moment the path was clear, the next the ground itself seemed to erupt with snarls, claws, and bloodlust. Rogues. Not the scattered wanderers we were used to, but organized, waiting, as if they had known every step of our march. They had been lying in wait for us, not at the Lycan borders as expected, but deeper in the Dey land where we were most exposed.