The wind howled across the mountaintops as Elara and Elias pressed onward, the rugged terrain of the eastern lands stretching endlessly before them. Each step brought them closer to the heart of the kingdoms, where they hoped to rally more powerful allies. But as they traveled deeper into these lands, the weight of the past began to settle on Elara's shoulders, heavier than the cold air that clung to her skin.
It had been years since she'd ventured into these lands, and with every village and town they passed, memories surfaced—some she wished to forget, others she could not afford to. This was the land of her birth, where her family's legacy had once been powerful. But it was also where she had made enemies, and where ghosts of her past still lingered.