Chapter 69: Ashes in Loom, I
The world had gone quiet.
Not in peace. In absence.
We walked in silence.
For weeks.
It took us almost a month on foot to cross the distance Helene had never needed to travel. Towns came and went. Forests opened, then closed. Rivers narrowed, then vanished. We passed through villages still recovering from winter and ones that had long stopped trying.
Every step carried the weight of those we'd left behind. Every morning felt heavier than the one before.
We didn't talk about where we were headed—we all knew. And we didn't speak of turning back.
I led. Not out of strength—but necessity. The weight of what came next had already settled in my bones.
Konrad followed close behind, his pace slow and careful. One hand always hovered near his chest, where the echo of his awakening still burned. He didn't speak—not because he had nothing to say, but because the act of saying it would've hurt more.
Erich followed, shoulders tight, coat half-buttoned, eyes forward but far away. His wound had closed, but it still echoed when he moved.
My body still remembered Sayo's weight inside it.