Kael’s POV

Rafe came before sunrise. I was still reviewing guard shifts when he said, “It’s about Malik.”

The name froze everything in me. I looked at him once and waited for the usual restraint. He dropped a sealed pouch on the table. “You’ll want to see this yourself.”

The parchment inside smelled of smoke and ash. The handwriting was old but too familiar, Malik’s. He’d drawn the same sigil we’d found carved into the outer ridge stones. Beneath it, his notes, half burnt, ...