Chapter 125

*Kaelen*

We found her at the edge of the valley, where the tree line began to fray and the land dipped into a void-reach thick with smoke. Her body was curled into the earth like something dropped from the sky—knees tucked, arms folded tight, face turned to the ground.

Flame bled from her back in thin golden threads, rising slowly like steam from a cracked hearthstone. It didn’t burn the moss. It