Kael left the basin behind before night fully settled.
The road thinned as it stretched eastward, stone giving way to packed dirt and broken grass. This route wasn't maintained. That was intentional. Major paths attracted patrols, merchants, and eventually questions. Kael wanted none of that.
His shoulder burned steadily now, the wound no longer bleeding but far from healed. Every step reminded him that the silence had taken something real this time. Not permanently—he could feel that—but enough to matter.
He adjusted his pace.
Too fast and his body would fail him.
Too slow and whatever patterns the hunter had warned about would finish forming.
Kael chose balance.
By the time night fully arrived, the world had grown quieter in a way that wasn't his doing. Insects chirped faintly. Wind moved through the grass. Somewhere far off, something howled and went unanswered.
Kael stopped near a shallow rise and sat, resting his back against a slanted rock. He closed his eyes briefly and focused inward.
The silence answered—faintly.
Not obedient.
Not hostile.
Present.
It no longer spread naturally when he moved. Now it required intention. Control. Effort. That was new.
So this was how it worked.
Power didn't disappear when you pushed too far. It changed how it responded to you.
Kael opened his eyes and stared up at the sky. No clouds. Too many stars. The world looked peaceful from here, like nothing was wrong.
That was the lie.
Gates didn't accelerate without cause. Breaches didn't stabilize themselves unless something encouraged them to. And mid-tier entities didn't force their way through early-stage ruptures unless the balance was already slipping.
Kael wasn't the cause.
But he was close to it.
He stood slowly, ignoring the ache in his shoulder, and continued walking.
He wasn't heading toward a city.
He wasn't heading toward a house.
He was moving toward a place where information flowed more freely than banners or law.
Settlements near trade routes. Places that survived by knowing what was coming before it arrived.
If gates were accelerating, someone had noticed.
And if someone had noticed, there would be rumors.
Kael intended to listen.
Ahead, faint lights flickered at the edge of the horizon. Not a city. Too small. Too scattered.
A settlement.
He slowed, letting the silence recede completely. No reason to arrive unseen. Not yet.
Tonight, he wasn't a threat.
He was a traveler.
But the moment he stepped into that settlement, things would begin to move again.
And Kael knew, with unsettling certainty, that whatever waited ahead wouldn't care whether he was ready.