Three days passed.
No dropships.
No Crown.
Just wind through tall grass and whispers through forgotten pines.
Rivan's team moved through a dead zone—an unclaimed stretch between territories, erased from Crown maps after the last Flame Purge. Locals called it Ashvale, but no one lived here anymore.
Not officially.
Kael squatted over a crumbling glyph stone, brushing off soot. "Crown sigils. Older than most. But they didn't build this place."
Selina adjusted her scout lens. "They burned it. Or tried to."
[System Alert: Echo Residue Detected – Signal Type: Sovereign Fragment | Directional Trace: Southeast Quadrant]
[Warning: Terrain Distortion Field Active – Mapping Inaccuracy 12–28%]
Ava scanned the horizon. "Still picking up signal flares, but they're low-frequency. Flickers, not calls. Someone's trying not to be found."
Rivan stepped past them.
He walked differently now—less reactive, more guided. The flame inside didn't just burn. It pointed.
