Chapter 71 : Ash and Firelight

Dirga stirred.

He didn't know how long he'd been asleep—but his body felt lighter. Not healed, not whole, but… recovered. Just enough.

He sat up inside the dim tent, the glow from Saelari's fading rune-lamps casting flickering light across Kaela's sleeping form.

Her breathing was slow, steady.

Peaceful. Saelari lay beside her, still asleep, fingers loosely curled as if she'd fallen unconscious mid-prayer.

Dirga exhaled softly and stepped outside the tent.

The air outside was crisp. No sunlight—just the dusky hues of evening pressing in through the shattered castle windows.

Pale blue light spilled through the cracks in the ruined stone, painting the floor in uneven streaks.

And there she was.

Theryn.

Sitting alone on the cracked marble floor of the great hall, legs crossed beside a small, crackling fire she'd conjured on a patch of cleared stone.