A Warrior's Redemption
The rain fell in silence.
Kael didn't flinch as the water dripped from his hood, running in thin rivulets down the metal of his gauntlets. He stood at the edge of the ruined village, his boots sinking slightly into the mud.
A husk of a place.
Charred wooden beams jutted from collapsed homes, their skeletal remains half-swallowed by creeping ivy. The remnants of stone walls stood stubborn against time, pockmarked with the scars of war. A single watchtower, once proud, now leaned dangerously, its top half crumbled into the remains of a marketplace.
But what struck him most was the silence.
No voices. No movement.
Just the hollow echo of a place abandoned by the world.
And yet—
A flicker of motion.
Kael's gaze sharpened. A shadow moved between the wreckage, quick and fleeting, gone before he could fully register it.
Not a soldier. Not a ghost.
A survivor.
Kael exhaled slowly. He should move on. He should turn away.
But his feet didn't move.
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