Chapter 157

Viona's POV

Weeks later

The fortress felt different without Ariel.

It had been weeks since he and the vanguard had ridden out, and though the fortress still bustled with the constant rhythm of preparation, there was a hollowness to it now, a silence that lingered between every clang of steel and every howl in the night.

At first, messages had come-brief updates from scouts who slipped back from the front, telling of skirmishes, of Ariel's bold leadership, of warriors who still ...