Unsettled, Alaric stepped out of his tent long after the encampment had grown quiet.
The air felt heavier than usual. Still and almost watchful as the faint sounds of distant movement, guards shifting their stance and embers cracking softly in dying campfires only made the silence between them feel deeper.
He stood there for a moment while letting the breezy air touch his face, hoping it might steady the restless unease sitting in his chest.
But, it didn't.
The High Priest's expression from earlier would not leave his mind.
That look of pure disbelief… not admiration, not simple surprise but something closer to reverence and Alaric had never seen that man react that way before. Not during sacred rituals, divine manifestations, and not even in the presence of relics blessed by the Temple itself.
But when he looked at the land surrounding their encampment… he had looked shaken.
And all of it had been Soren.
