After Mane returned that same night, exhausted yet alight with purpose, and the letter from Alpha Caelen became the spark everyone had needed. The next morning, Logan gathered his men quietly in the chamber beneath the great hall — a secret room once used by his ancestors for war councils. The scent of parchment, dust, and iron filled the air. A map was spread wide before them, its corners pinned down with daggers.

“The Nightingale forces will begin movement within a fortnight,” Logan ...