The settlement came into focus as Kael approached.
It wasn't large. A cluster of low stone buildings reinforced with scavenged metal, lanterns hanging from hooks instead of posts. No walls. No banners. Places like this didn't pretend they could stop trouble—they survived by seeing it early and moving fast.
Kael slowed to a normal pace and stepped into the outer ring.
Conversations dipped the moment he passed.
Not silence. Not fear.
Awareness.
People here watched reflexively. Traders, runners, hunters, all used to reading posture and gait the way others read faces. Kael felt their eyes linger—not because he stood out, but because he didn't quite fit.
Injured, but not desperate.
Calm, but not relaxed.
He ignored the looks and moved toward the central fire pit where information usually changed hands. A few groups sat nearby, voices low, mugs half-full, weapons within easy reach.
"…another breach two days north," someone muttered.
"Stabilized?"
"For an hour. Then it went wild."
Kael paused just long enough to listen.
"…lost three going in. Pulled the rest out."
"Tier?"
"Couldn't tell. Too fast."
That confirmed it.
He continued walking and stopped near a water trough, dipping his hands in and washing the dried blood from his fingers. The cold stung, grounding him.
"You look like someone who came from the wrong direction."
Kael glanced up.
The speaker was a woman leaning against a supply crate, arms crossed. She wore no crest, no uniform—just layered cloth and reinforced boots. Her hair was tied back tightly, eyes sharp and measuring.
"I usually do," Kael replied.
She studied him openly now. "You're hurt."
"Yes."
"Gate?"
"Yes."
She nodded once, as if that settled something. "You're late, then. Word's been moving faster than people."
Kael straightened. "About what?"
She hesitated, then shrugged. "Breaches aren't acting right. Anchors failing. Stabilizations snapping under pressure they shouldn't feel yet."
Her gaze sharpened. "And someone's been walking too close to the edges."
Kael met her eyes evenly.
"That's a dangerous rumor," he said.
She smiled faintly. "Most useful ones are."
She pushed off the crate. "If you're looking for answers, you won't find them out in the open. Too many ears."
"Then where?" Kael asked.
"Below," she said. "Or behind doors people pretend don't exist."
She turned to leave, then paused. "Rest if you need to. But don't stay long."
"Why?"
"Because places like this don't stay neutral once patterns form."
She walked away.
Kael remained where he was, letting the noise of the settlement wash over him. Laughter. Arguments. Warnings whispered too late.
He felt it again—the silence inside him reacting faintly, tightening in response to proximity. Not danger.
Interest.
Kael exhaled slowly.
The basin had been the first step.
The gate had been the second.
Whatever came next would require more than restraint and empty hands.
And for the first time, Kael didn't resist that thought.
He welcomed it.