The days after the siege passed in a blur of work and worry. Black Hollow became more than a ruin — it became a beacon.
Folk came from across the land: farmers with scythes sharpened into blades, hunters with bows worn from years of use, even outlaws seeking redemption beneath the prince's banner.
Within a week, Aron's band had doubled. But with growth came danger.
---
Lina stood on the tower, watching smoke rise on the far horizon. "He burns the villages that defy him," she said. "He means to starve us of allies."
Aron joined her, his face hard. "Then we move faster than his fire."
---
They planned by torchlight.
"We raid his stores at Stonebridge," Garron said, his finger tapping the map. "Strike before he can feed his army."
"We'll need speed and surprise," Lina added. "And a way to cover our retreat."
Aron nodded. "Let's remind him the land still has teeth."
---
At dusk, they set out — a swift force, moving through hidden ways, beneath the trees, across rivers swollen by spring rain.
They reached Stonebridge before dawn, the enemy unprepared for an attack so bold.
Aron led the charge, his sword flashing in the first light. Garron's axe shattered gates. Lina's arrows flew true.
They took the storehouses, set them aflame, seized what they could carry.
By the time Jaren's men arrived, the rebels were gone — ghosts in the morning mist.
---
But victory carried a price.
That night, as the rebels camped deep in the woods, the wind brought with it a strange scent — smoke, thick and bitter.
Lina was the first to speak it aloud. "He burns the forest."
Garron's fists clenched. "He means to drive us out, or burn us where we stand."
Aron looked to the dark sky, the stars hidden behind a haze of ash.
"Then we keep moving. We stay ahead of his fire. And we strike again, and again, until he chokes on his own smoke."
---
Far to the west, upon a black hill, Jaren watched the flames rise.
His silver mask glinted in the fire's glow.
"Let him run. Let him hide. I will burn the world around him if I must. And when at last he stands alone, he will see what it means to defy me."