Chapter 58: Catalyst Bound, V
We had reached a town called Furstenberg.
The road had been cold, uneven, and empty. We hadn't seen signs of people for weeks—only ruined shelters, broken wagons, and time anomalies that left fields frozen in motion, or birds hanging still in the air. But Furstenberg had smoke. Lanterns. Movements. Life.
A town still breathing.
Not bustling. Just surviving.
If the locals feared us, they didn't show it. They watched carefully but said nothing as we entered. A few nodded, cautiously. One man handed us a flask of water without speaking. A boy offered bread, then ran off.
They gave us a corner of the square near the clock tower. Firewood. A roof. Nothing more—but more than we'd expected.
Clara sat beneath a frostbitten archway, eyes fixed on nothing. She hadn't spoken since the fracture. The way she moved—quiet, controlled, like glass in motion—told us enough.
Konrad stood just beyond the market, near the well. He didn't interact with anyone. His hands rested at his sides. Empty. But his eyes never stopped scanning the horizon.
The rest of us waited.
***
It began just after dusk.