The silence hadn't quite left them as they resumed their march.
Maggie led the way, shoulders tight, her gaze drifting toward Dylan at intervals — watchful, wary. Elisa took the rear, eyes sharp, as if guarding both of them at once.
Dylan walked in the middle, quiet, his steps unsure, shoulders hunched — as though something, or someone, was weighing him down.
No one spoke for a while.
Only their footsteps in the dust kept time with the low moan of the wind.
Then Elisa finally broke the silence, voice careful, half-thinking aloud:
"So… we're really going through with the Heroes' Graveyard?"
Maggie nodded without looking back.
"Yeah. You said we might find something there to make him stronger, right?"
Elisa sighed.
"I did… I'm just surprised you went along with it."
She quickened her pace to match Maggie's.
