Chapter 162

Kaelen

The moment the elder withdraws, the world exhales.

Not relief—release.

The pressure doesn’t vanish so much as it settles into the land, into the stone beneath my boots and the fire coiled in my chest. The flame-line dims to a steady ember, no longer calling, no longer announcing us to everything with ears tuned to the old frequencies.

But the silence that follows is heavier than the presenc