[Eastern Zahryssar — Sah'qir Village Perimeter — Before Dawn]
Before dawn the desert forgot how to breathe.
The winds had stopped completely; no sand shifted and no dunes whispered. Even the imperial flames surrounding the encampment burned strangely low, their blue light flickering weakly as though suffocating beneath some invisible pressure hanging over Sah'qir itself.
And beyond the camp, the village remained standing beneath moonlight like a grave refusing burial.
The imperial camp had already awakened long before sunrise. Knights sharpened blades; mages prepared protective sigils. Attendants moved nervously between tents carrying medicines, weapons, and emergency supplies.
No one spoke loudly, not here, not near Sah'qir.
Then the imperial tent curtains parted softly, and Levin stepped outside wrapped in pale desert robes beneath a thin silver veil concealing the lower half of his face.
