They made it back to the Grove with six hours to spare.

Marina went straight to Ragnar.

She found him at the western edge of camp running his two best fighters through a silent movement drill, the three of them cycling through positions with the economy of wolves who had trained together long enough that communication was mostly breath and weight shift. She watched for two seconds to confirm they were good, then stepped into Ragnar's line of sight.

He stopped the drill immediately.

She told him about Sera's message. All of it, the ground channel communication, the three words, the specific warning about the east wall approach. She said...