She stood on that crossroad again.
More determined.
More precise.
She needs to find Rowan.
Just like her last life.
She passed through the crowds, the soldiers.
Then Rowan speaking with another officer. His posture was straight, his expression focused.
The same man.
The same soldier she had met before.
Elowen stepped into the road.
The soldiers immediately raised their weapons.
"Halt!" one shouted.
Rowan turned.
His eyes fell on her.
For a moment his expression remained calm.
Then he noticed something strange.
Like a déjà vu.
Familiarity.
The girl standing in the road was not frightened.
She looked like someone who had been waiting for him.
"Move aside," one of the soldiers ordered.
But Elowen did not move.
She looked directly at Rowan.
"You're about to be attacked," she said.
"Call out your men to fall into a line"
"They'll come from there."
"The west field" she uttered without pausing no hesitation.
Rowan signal a soldier to check.
With the signal Rowan voice cut through the air.
"Form a line!"
Without a second hesitation they are the one who charged first.
No casualties unlike her last loop.
"She must be a witch" one of the soldiers uttered
And just like that, like a play Rowan stopped only a few steps away.
His gaze moved to her hair again.
Her flaming red hair.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"Elowen." she answered again, the same way she answered before
"And how did you know about the ambush, Elowen?"
This time there is no hesitation, cause she knows he will believe her.
"I've seen it before."
Rowan frowned slightly.
"Seen it?"
"Yes."
Elowen now thinks that there is something strange about Rowan.
How could he believe a stranger.
A curse.
"You shouldn't be walking these roads alone."
Elowen blinked. Tilting her head.
Rowan turned toward his soldiers.
"Bring her with us."
One of them frowned.
"Captain?"
"She stays with the column."
He glanced back at Elowen.
"At least until we reach the city."
Night fell once more, a cup to tea is on her hand.
Rowan standing beside the fire.
"There will be another ambush" she uttered
"When" he asked, as if it is just causal thing to talk about.
Tho the certainty in her voice is there
"Two days after tonight" she said as her fingers brushed the ribbon tied in her red hair.
Rowan followed the motion.
"In the steep heel in the northern part"
Rowan is confused how did she even know about their next move?
As the sun awakes, the morning training began.
Mist clung to the open field beside the road. Soldiers stretched, sharpened blades, and prepared for another day of marching.
Elowen stood across from Rowan, holding a wooden practice sword.
Her hands were already sore.
"Again," Rowan said.
She swung.
The blade cut through the air—still awkward, but stronger than before.
Rowan stepped forward and adjusted her grip.
"Relax your hands."
His fingers moved her knuckles slightly.
"If you choke the sword, it controls you."
Elowen nodded.
She swung again.
This time faster.
Rowan blocked easily, the wooden blades clacking together.
"Better," he said.
Nearby soldiers had started watching.
Some amused.
Some curious.
"The curse is learning to fight," one muttered.
Elowen ignored them.
Rowan attacked suddenly.
Her eyes widened as she scrambled to block.
The impact rattled her arms.
She almost dropped the blade.
Rowan lowered his sword.
"In a real fight," he said calmly, "you'd be dead."
Elowen exhaled slowly.
"Good thing I'm practicing."
A faint smile flickered across Rowan's face.
The column moved again the next morning.
Two days had passed.
Just like Elowen had said.
The road curved toward the northern hills, where jagged cliffs rose on both sides.
The valley.
Elowen felt the tension in her chest grow tighter with every step.
She knew this place.
Every rock.
Every shadow.
Rowan rode beside the column this time, watching the ridges carefully.
"Scouts ahead," he ordered.
"They're already there," Elowen said quietly.
Rowan glanced at her.
"How many?"
"Thirty, maybe more."
His expression darkened slightly.
"Form tighter ranks," he commanded.
The soldiers shifted formation as they entered the valley.
Wind whispered through the rocks above.
Then—
A shout.
"RAHAEDOR!"
Crossbow bolts streaked down from the cliffs.
But the soldiers were ready.
Shields rose.
Steel rang.
Rowan drew his sword.
"Forward!" he roared.
The soldiers surged ahead instead of retreating.
Elowen stayed near the center, clutching her knife.
The battle exploded around her.
Steel clashed.
Men shouted.
Dust and smoke filled the air.
She saw one of the Rhaedor soldiers stumble back, staring at her.
His eyes widened.
"The hair—" he whispered.
Another soldier beside him froze for a moment.
"Red…"
Then a third man whispered something in awe.
"Our savior…"
Elowen felt a strange chill run down her spine.
She had no time to think.
Rowan cut down an enemy beside her, his blade flashing.
"Stay behind me!" he ordered.
A Rhaedor soldier rushed forward.
Elowen reacted instinctively.
She remembered Rowan's lesson.
Relax your hands.
She stepped forward—
And slashed.
The knife struck the soldier's arm.
He staggered back in surprise.
Rowan finished him in a single motion.
Rowan glanced at her briefly.
"You're improving."
The battle ended quickly after that.
The Rhaedor ambush had failed.
The survivors fled back into the hills.
Silence slowly returned to the valley.
Soldiers checked wounds.
But this time—
No one had died.
Rowan wiped his blade and looked toward Elowen.
Elowen looked around at the soldiers still standing.
At the valley that had once been filled with death.
"I changed it," she said quietly breathing the sigh of relief.
Rowan studied her.
Then he mounted his horse again.
"We move," he announced.
"The city is close."
By late afternoon, the road opened into a wide plain.
Stone walls rose in the distance.
Tall towers guarded the entrance to the city.
Soldiers at the gates raised banners as Rowan's column approached.
Elowen grasp tighter on her hood.
She had never reached this place before.
Not in any of her loops.
The wind carried the distant sounds of the city.
Voices.
Markets.
Life.
Rowan move closer to her.
"Welcome to the capital of Virelden," he said.
Elowen stared at the towering walls.
For the first time since the loops began—
She had reached somewhere new.
And that meant something even more terrifying.
There is something new she will unravel.