Dawn had not yet fully broken over the mountains when the world seemed to hold its breath.
It was not the kind of silence that suggested peace, nor the kind that invited rest. Instead, it carried a tension so fine and stretched that even the wind seemed hesitant to move too quickly, as though afraid of snapping something unseen. The towering ridges that surrounded the narrow pass stood like ancient sentinels, their jagged silhouettes cutting into the pale horizon, while a thin veil of mist drifted lazily between black pine trunks and uneven rock formations, softening edges but hiding intent.
From a distance, the basin that had housed the academy convoy the previous night appeared abandoned.
