The next two days passed in quiet preparation. Elara finished the last formal lessons with the southern healers and spent an afternoon walking the high trails with Maara.
The older woman moved slowly but without pain. At the final overlook she rested her hand on a weathered stone marker and spoke of the seasons she had watched from that same place. The land felt settled under their feet.
Felix remained a steady presence through all of it. He did not press for more than she offered. On the eleventh night, after the main fires had burned low, they walked the upper stockade together. The air carried the first true hint of autumn, a sharper edge beneath the resin scent of the pines.
"You're quieter than usual," he said.
"I'm thinking about the return," Elara answered. "Frostfang will feel different after these months. Lila has been carrying the center alone. Thorne has built something of his own. I've learned a different kind of listening here."
