The first light of dawn did not arrive gently upon the land, but crept slow and deliberate across the horizon, as though the world itself hesitated before revealing what had become of the night.
Elara stood where darkness had thinned into grey, her figure still against the rising light, her breath steady though the quiet within her no longer resembled emptiness, but something settled and unyielding.
The ground beneath her feet held the faint chill of hours past, yet she did not shift from it, as though she chose to feel every trace of what had come before this moment.
Behind her, the pack remained at a distance, not withdrawn, not uncertain, but allowing space that did not isolate her, only acknowledged what she now was.
"…you didn't sleep," Alessandro said.
His voice was low.
