We broke camp before the sun cleared the ridges. The pack moved with quiet efficiency, loading wounded onto stretchers, dousing fires, erasing signs of our presence.
I walked the line checking straps and morale, my thigh still stiff from the fresh stitches. Every step reminded me how little time we had left.
Two weeks until the alignment. Fourteen days before that woman tried to open my children on cold stone.
Darius matched my pace, his presence a steady anchor. "We send riders ahead with orders to evacuate the outer hamlets. Pull everyone behind the river line."
"Do it," I said. "And double the messengers to Frostfang. Garrick needs to know the exact window."
Kane fell in on my other side, his bandaged forearm hidden under a fresh sleeve. "I'll lead the night harassment teams. Keep them blind and jumpy so they can't organize."
