The moment the barrier collapses in Hollow Pass, nothing feels victorious.
There is no cheer.
No sense of triumph.
Only a fragile, humming silence stretched thin between four leaders and the mountain wind.
Kade reaches Aurora first.
His hand grips her arm, firm, grounding, furious.
"Are you out of your mind?" he demands, voice low but shaking.
Aurora does not pull away.
"I heard him," she replies quietly.
"You don't hear ideologues," Darius says coldly behind them. "You eliminate them."
The Obsidian commander remains still, watchful but not retreating.
"You eliminate a man," he says evenly. "Belief outlives him."
The words echo in the pass.
Kade steps forward slightly, placing himself half between Aurora and the commander.
"You think you get to sit at our table after siege?" he snarls.
"I think we either sit," the commander replies, "or continue this until nothing stands."
Silence presses heavy.
Aurora feels the web hum behind her, distant but alive.
