The evening had weight of its own, a rich velvet blackness covering the planet in expectancy and mystery. I stood on the highest peak gazing over our campsite in that silence between fights, when the cries of the enemy and the roar of war were suddenly quieted. Every instant was a decision, every breath an acknowledgment of the link I had with Luca; the Crescent Mark on my skin pulsed with a gentle, steady rhythm—like a second heartbeat. Our love had been fashioned in the furnace of war, refined by sacrifice and constrained by destiny.
But tonight I sensed a greater truth: that in togetherness there was an unparalleled strength, a force capable of healing even the worst of treachery. As the last traces of our foes went quiet and our wounded were collected with great care.
