Lira stopped near one of them.
"This is the place."
Ardan dropped his pack with a quiet grunt. "Rest?"
She nodded. "Fifteen minutes."
Meren collapsed like it had been an order from the heavens.
Ren found a rock and claimed it instantly, stretching both legs out like a smug cat.
Lindarion didn't sit.
He walked to the edge of the ledge. Looked down at the slope behind them. It wasn't dramatic. Just long. A mess of brush and stone and cold that didn't feel quite done chasing them.
He felt it again. That quiet weight in his chest.
Not fear.
Not anticipation.
Just awareness.
His affinities were back. All of them. Settled now. Calm.
No flare. No strain.
But they were there, just under the skin. In the breath. In the pause between thoughts.
He closed his eyes. Let the air touch his face.
Ren whistled behind him.
"Careful, prince. You look poetic. The wind might fall in love with you."
He opened one eye.
"Then it should buy me dinner first."
She snorted. "You wish."
