When we got back to the packhouse, the whole place felt heavy. The air was thick with tension and the scent of smoke and metal. Everyone moved quietly, still shaken from the fight and from what we had seen in Stonebridge.
We went straight to the war room, where the long wooden table was already covered with everything we had brought back — papers, stones, scraps of metal, and the strange items Arlo had collected from the energy lines. He was already unpacking his bag, careful and steady, his eyes sharp as he laid everything out in neat rows.
I stood beside Asher and Gage, still dirty and tired from the road. My body ached, but I couldn’t rest yet. I needed to know what we were dealing with.
Arlo held up a few old coins and a cracked charm. “These have traces of energy.” He said, his ton
