[Sacred Valley]
Mist still clung low to the ground, curling around ancient stones etched with marks no one living could read anymore.
The spring murmured softly at the center, its surface unbroken, reflecting moonlight like a held breath.
Kaelen stood near the water's edge, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled to his elbows. He stood there every night before bed since he had arrived.
Behind him, footsteps approached, quiet and deliberate.
Riven stopped a few paces away, respectful of the space and the silence that came with it.
"You should be resting," Riven said. "Not standing in the cold."
Kaelen didn't turn. "The curse doesn't rest."
Riven exhaled softly but didn't argue. He adjusted his coat instead, his gaze sweeping the valley once before returning to Kaelen.
"Everything at the office is under control," he said. "Meetings rescheduled. The board has been informed you are unavailable and no one is asking questions."
"They will," Kaelen replied. "They won't stay quiet for a long time."
"They always do," Riven agreed. "But they won't push."
Kaelen nodded faintly. "What about the search?"
"We are doing it, but it doesn't look positive."
The search had been thorough and Riven had seen to that personally. Names were reviewed, timelines cross-checked, anomalies investigated and dismissed but nothing had surfaced.
No reaction from the wards, no resonance and no trace to be found.
Whoever had crossed into Blackthorn territory and stirred the curse had slipped through every measure meant to find them or they had already moved on.
"You are stable," Riven said carefully. "Varyn wouldn't allow you to stay otherwise."
"Stable isn't certainty," Kaelen replied.
Riven hesitated. "And certainty?"
Kaelen finally turned, his eyes were clear, focused and controlled.
"Certainty is knowing I won't lose control if something goes wrong," he said. "Not if, but when."
The spring rippled faintly, as if responding to the truth of it.
Riven studied him for a long moment. "If you need more time, take it. I can handle things."
"I know."
Silence stretched between them, heavy but not uncomfortable. They had stood like this before, after battles, after losses, after nights neither of them spoke about.
"The list is clean," Riven added. "Every lead is exhausted. Whoever caused the disturbance isn't among them."
Kaelen inclined his head once.
"Good," he said. "Then we stop chasing ghosts."
Riven blinked. "You are calling it off?"
"For now," Kaelen corrected. "We wait, watch and let the territory settle."
"And if it doesn't?"
Kaelen looked back toward the spring.
"Then it wasn't a coincidence."
The valley hummed softly around them with ancient magic stirring but restrained.
Kaelen closed his eyes and drew in a slow, deliberate breath, grounding himself the way Varyn had taught him. The wolf remained quiet, alert but obedient.
Riven nodded once. "I will keep things steady."
Kaelen opened his eyes. "I know you will."
Above them, the moon drifted higher, pale and watchful.
The Sacred Valley did not offer answers, it never did.
It existed not to explain the future but to sense when something old and dangerous was waking.
Tonight, the valley was not silent.
The spring's surface trembled faintly beneath the moonlight, disturbed by a presence it did not yet name.
The air felt heavier, charged in a way Kaelen had learned not to ignore.
Whatever had brushed against his territory was not finished.
It had not revealed itself and it had not been claimed.
It was simply waiting.
Kaelen straightened slowly as the weight of that knowledge settled deep in his bones. Control was still held for now but the warning was clear enough.
This was not over and when the valley stirred again, it would not be gentle.
….