Over the next two days, the group continued their journey back in tense silence. The failure at the temple was weighing heavily on everyone.
During this time, something unexpected began to develop. Daniel, the tracker who had lost his sister Elena, found comfort in an unlikely source… Nessa.
She'd made it her mission to check on him regularly, sitting with him during meals, walking beside him during the trek. At first, he'd barely acknowledged her presence, lost in his grief. But slowly, she'd broken through his walls.
"You know," Nessa said one evening as they gathered firewood together, "Elena wouldn't want you to carry this guilt forever."
"How would you know what she'd want?" Daniel asked, but there was no bite to his words.
"Because I know what I'd want if something happened to me. I'd want the people I love to keep living, to find joy again. Not to be consumed by my death."
