Night's remnants clung to the horizon as the founders and their devoted companions returned from the depths of the Veil. The journey had left them forever altered—a fusion of hard-won wisdom and echoes of past sorrows. As they crossed the threshold into the familiar embrace of their city, every step resounded with both triumph and an undercurrent of foreboding.
In the city's outer quarter, beneath the watchful gaze of ancient battlements and crumbling arches, Liam led the procession with a quiet gravity. His eyes, darkened with the weight of memories and lit with the fire of newfound resolve, scanned the familiar faces of the citizens gathering at dusk. They awaited the return of their champions—those who had dared to traverse forbidden passageways and confront the legacy of a covenant older than time. Even as the city's lights glimmered like scattered stars across the winding streets, an uneasy energy coursed through its veins, for all knew that change had come with a price.
