Three weeks into the six-month transition period, the first joint inspection column rode out from Alika City into the sunlit central plains.
At the head of the column rode Squad 25 alongside Northern Prefect Marshal Salka, escorting Molakwa engineers, Cilsi healers, and southern supply wagons.
Beside the marching riders, the ancient desert beast Zaira glided smoothly across blooming meadows, her dark scales gleaming under the clear blue sky.
Wagons laden with polished stone blocks, cedar timber, and sacks of grain stretched as far as the eye could see along the newly widened highway.
Their destination was the historic Kovura Border Gate, the heavily fortified chokepoint that had separated the North and Central provinces for sixty years.
For generations, this jagged mountain pass had been a place of blood, high stone ramparts, and iron ballista towers.
As the column approached the mountain cut, they were greeted by the thunderous shouts of hundreds of working soldiers.
