Lan stepped into the sunlight.
He looked rested. More than rested—composed. There was a clarity to his movements, a silence to his presence that made the dozens of men in the courtyard pause. They stood straighter. Watched harder. As if they could sense something had shifted.
Venom was the first to speak.
"Welcome back, we thought you were dead."
Lan cracked a faint smile. "It's good not to be."
Venom chuckled, but it didn't quite seem full. There was wariness there. And respect.
Lan's eyes drifted across the assembled figures. Dozens of fighters—Vipers, Fangs, new recruits—stood waiting in formation. Bragg leaned against a stone pillar, arms crossed. Seraphine watched from the balcony, golden hair tied back, expression unreadable.
"What's happened while I was away?" Lan asked, voice cutting clean through the courtyard.
Bragg answered first. "Nothing major. No new beast waves. No Ash Tongue remnants. Just wind and quiet."
