The night didn't last forever.
It only felt like it did.
By the time dawn broke—
They were far from the palace.
Far from the kingdom.
Far from anything that had once felt familiar.
Liora stood at the edge of a jagged cliff, the wind pulling sharply at her clothes.
Below—
A vast, fractured land stretched endlessly.
Not smooth plains.
Not gentle hills.
But something harsher.
Broken.
Layered.
Alive in a way that felt… wrong.
"…This isn't part of the Demon Kingdom."
Her voice was quiet.
Observing.
Cairis stepped beside her.
"No."
A pause.
"…Then where are we?"
His gaze scanned the horizon.
"The borderlands."
