I swallow hard, then take a step closer.
Thane watches me. Then he sighs—low and thoughtful.
“You found me.”
His voice carries a quiet weight and my heart squeezes.
I smile automatically, the sight of that small smile warming my cheeks. But suddenly, I feel shy, uncertain in a way I hadn’t expected. Up here, with no excuses, no distractions. Just the two of us beneath the open sky . . . it feels different.
I step closer, moving to stand beside him at the wall. The stone is cool beneath my palms as I rest my hands against it, my gaze sweeping out over the valley below. The silence stretches, not uncomfortable, but charged. Waiting.
After a beat, Thane’s gaze shifts to the horizon.
“This is my spot.” His voice softens. Thoughtful. “This iswhere I come to think. To reflect. It’s quiet.”
He lifts a hand toward the horizon. “And from here, I can see all the way to the capital.”
I follow the line of his finger to a cluster of faint lights in the far distance, flickering against the darkness, nestled beyond the rolling hills to the north.
The capital. Volcaris.
I didn’t know it was visible from here.
Standing beside him, I take in the view with fresh eyes. The outpost, the village, the vast stretch of land beyond—all of it feels different from up here, smaller and yet somehow grander, part of something far greater than what I’ve known.
I glance at Thane, watching the way the moonlight touches his face, the way his gaze lingers on the distant city. “Do you miss it?” I ask softly.
Thane doesn’t look away from the capital’s distant lights. “No.”
His voice is steady, but there’s something in it—something distant, like the thought has already drifted past him.
“It doesn’t feel like home. Nowhere really does.”
His fingers tap idly against the stone. A restless motion—like even standing still costs him something.
“I’m always on the move anyway.”
Something about the way he says it tugs at me—an unspoken truth beneath the words.
It’s not just that he keeps moving. It’s that he doesn’t know where he’s meant to stop.
I watch him for a long moment, then turn my gaze back to the horizon. The wind shifts, warm and heavy with the approaching rain. The silence between us stretches—not empty, but full of all the things neither of us say.
I glance from the capital’s distant lights back to Thane. “What did you see out there? Did you find the scouting party?”
Thane exhales slowly, the sound barely more than a breath, his fingers still idly tapping against the stone. He’s quiet long enough that I think he won’t answer.
Then—softly:
“We found what was left of them.”
A chill runs through me. “Dead?”
Thane gives me a tight nod. “Slaughtered. Ripped into pieces. Body parts and innards spread about.” His jaw tightens, the moonlight casting sharp shadows across his face. “We were too late.”
The weight in his voice settles deep in my chest, heavy and cold. I grip the wall, my fingers pressing against the rough stone. “Who did it?”
His eyes flick to mine, grave. “We don’t know yet. But whatever it was . . . it wasn’t human.”
