KAEL POINT OF VIEW.

Dawn had not yet broken when Moonfang’s gates finally emerged through the veil of morning mist.

The forest surrounding the fortress lay silent beneath the fading night, trees standing like dark sentinels against a sky slowly surrendering to pale blue. Fog clung low to the earth, curling around the stone walls and towers as though the land itself protected my dominion. My horse slowed instinctively as we approached, its breath steaming in thick clouds that vanished into ...