C325 A DUEL FOR THE DAWNED

The air at the Alpha border was a different kind of heavy. It didn't carry the rot of the Wastes or the sweetness of the Palace gardens. Here, the wind tasted of pine needles and the damp earth of a forest that refused to die. The massive iron gates of the Alpha Keep stood like giants in the gray light of dawn, their surfaces etched with runes that hummed with a low, protective energy