Chapter 218

Beyond the desert, the land did not rise or darken.

It familiarized.

The path curved in a way that stirred recognition before memory caught up. The wind carried a scent she had known once—not from any of the settlements she had helped, but from somewhere earlier.

Before the coast.

Before the valley.

Before she understood what drift looked like.

She stopped walking.

Ahead, nestled between low hills, stood the place she had begun.

It was smaller than she remembered.

Or ...