As we gathered in the small common room, the atmosphere was heavy with a tension that none of us could quite dispel. Zara had been right—whatever we'd fought wasn't entirely vanquished. A gnawing sense of unfinished business clung to us all, lingering like the shadows we'd battled the day before.
Leif stood by the window, his arms crossed, staring out at the village. Raven sat next to me, our hands still entwined, a quiet comfort in the midst of uncertainty. Zara sat across from us, the worn edges of her robes brushing the floor as she paged through an ancient book she had retrieved from her pack. Her face was etched with concentration, though I could see the exhaustion in the lines around her eyes.
