For the first time in weeks, the mountains did not echo with screams only the steady hum of the recovering camp.
Smoke drifted lazily over the ruined outposts, mingling with the faint shimmer of purified Shinrei. Soldiers moved like shadows of what they once were — tired, broken, yet alive.
Alive because of three names whispered through the frost:
Lito Corzedar. Khael Corzedar. Arden Corzedar.
Banners that once hung in despair now fluttered again under the pale sun.
In the heart of the ruins, Khael stood near the remnants of the last Lunaris cache, eyes half-closed, his aura still pulsing faintly. The air shimmered around him faint dragon motifs forming and fading, as if the land itself exhaled through him.
Lito stood nearby, overseeing the healers. The once-retired general's presence restored the soldiers' discipline.
"Gather the survivors," he ordered, voice even but commanding. "Treat the corrupted soil with the Bloom seal. No more traces of the Dust remain."
