CAIRN POINT OF VIEW.

The summons came before dusk, slipping into the rhythm of the day so quietly it almost felt deliberate.

It wasn’t shouted across the yard like the usual orders, nor carried by the familiar guards who had begun to blend into routine. This one came differently, clean, direct, as though it had been chosen rather than assigned. The guard who delivered it was not one I recognized. His armor bore no distinct markings beyond Moonfang’s crest, his expression blank in the way ...