Fort Marrok -

"Ready for what?" Elara asked, her hand drifting to the knife at her belt.

"Neither was the thing they buried," it said. "But it learned." fort marrok

But the fort wasn't empty.

In the silence, she heard footsteps behind her. "Ready for what

The wind carried voices that weren't wind. The old watchtower, which had stood silent since the war ended, creaked with footsteps. And the well—the deep, stone-lined well at the fort's heart—was humming. "Ready for what?" Elara asked