Chapter 13
Chapter 14: The Weight of Memory
Kathleen accompanies David into the fissure, where he relives a hunting trip with his father and the moment he chose to lie, breaking his father's last hope. Kathleen witnesses his memory and helps him confront the guilt, strengthening the weave between them.
Dawn came grey and cold, the sky a sheet of pewter that promised no warmth. Kathleen stood at the cabin door, a pack slung over her shoulder, its weight a comfort against the uncertainty ahead. David was beside her, his hand resting on her lower back, a silent touch that grounded them both. Kaelen moved past them, his long stride carrying him toward the grove, and Elara followed, her staff clicking against the frost-hardened ground.
The air smelled of pine and earth, and beneath it, something else—a metallic tang, like old blood, that seemed to seep from the distance. Kathleen had felt it the moment she stepped outside, a subtle wrongness in the resonance, a hum that was just slightly off-key. She knew it was the fissure, the wound that had drawn them here, and she knew it would only grow stronger the closer they got.
"You don't have to do this," David said, his voice low, meant only for her. "There's still time."
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