Chapter 33: To the West
The fire had long died.Only the warm stones on damp soil remained—and it almost felt like those stones were still breathing.
The scent of the night was thick.Burnt rubber. Rust. Dust...But above all, abandonment.
Zeyna leaned against the side panel of an old armored vehicle.Her shoulder still wouldn’t fully move—but it wasn’t her body that hurt the most.Her eyes remained locked on Fade’s back.He was crouched some distance away, silently watching the surroundings.
"Someone might still be dreaming," Zeyna said suddenly."But someone said ’city’ to us."
Darin sat beside her. He dropped a flat stone from his hand."He said, ’Did you come from there’... You remember that, right?"
"Yeah," Zeyna nodded."But did he mean a city? Where?"
Arven was poking at the ashes.There was no flame left,yet it was as if he was still trying to keep something alive.
"It could be a trap," he muttered."Enforcers don’t usually talk.And when they do—it means nothing."
Kaela stared at the broken display on her wrist device.The screen still flickered.But between the static lines, her eyes caught something.
"There’s a systemic disturbance to the west," she said."Normally I wouldn’t see this kind of signal interference.It’s like... a data field buried there."
Zeyna frowned. "Buried?"