The question lingered in the air like a thick mist. The conflict has altered everyone. No more fantasies of invincibility, no naive faith in fate to lead us. Our decisions, our suffering, our love had shaped our own destiny. Now it was time to choose what followed.
I gazed at the remains of our fortress, the site that had before been a sign of authority and legacy. Though it had not shielded us from the battles ravaging our continent, it had been our haven. A vestige of an ancient world, a history we had outgrown.
Turning to face my troop, I eventually said, "We rebuild." Not the same manner. Not with the same shackles that shackled us before. We rise, not just survive. More powerful. More intelligent. In unison.
Murmurs rippled among the assembled wolves as their weariness was suddenly replaced by something else: hope.
