The air felt heavier the next morning. Clouds rolled low across the horizon, thick and bruised with the promise of a storm. The mountains that once looked peaceful now seemed to watch in silence, as though the world itself was holding its breath.

Darius stood in the war hall, his hands braced on the map table. Around him, warriors and commanders moved in tense silence. Every candle flickered with each gust of wind that slipped through the stone cracks. The map before him was covered in black ...