Chapter 79: The Road That Moved

By midnight, the plan has already failed in the most useful possible direction.

The pursuit collides with the immortal gatekeeper feeding cities to strengthen a sealed god, forcing an alliance that neither Kael Rowan nor Lyra Voss is ready to name.

The evidence survives, but reaching it requires a choice that exposes the group to a new enemy.

Kael Rowan keeps the larger goal in view: master each gate discipline before the ash dragon consumes his identity. The immediate problem is smaller, sharper, and impossible to postpone.

A small act of care unsettles them more than danger. It asks for no payment and therefore cannot be dismissed as strategy.

Their attraction grows through competence, danger, and the first honest confession.

The recurring signs of ash, runes, dragonfire return with a different meaning, linking this choice to what came before.

The evidence points toward someone they have both been protecting.