"The storm whispers before it roars. Ignore the whispers, and you'll never survive the storm."
Niko's POV
The castle never truly slept. Even in the stillest hours, there were footsteps in the halls, torches sputtering in the wind, the subtle scrape of steel against stone as guards shifted their weight at their posts. Tonight, though, the silence was different. It was sharp, heavy, like a blade hanging just above us all.
I walked down the Eastern wing with my cloak gathered around me, each step echoing faintly on polished stone. My instincts had been restless all day, nagging and pulling like a wolf pawing at a closed door. The winds of change had grown teeth. Something stirred beyond these walls, and I could not shake the feeling that it was watching us even now.
