Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Path
Later that night, after the last guests had departed and the mountain air grew cool and crisp, Zariah walked down the gentle slope of her lawn toward the quiet edge of the forest.
She wore a warm, comfortable woolen sweater over her dark trousers. Her shoes were off, her bare feet pressing into the cool, damp grass—just as they had on the Thorne lawn a year ago.
But everything else was different.
She was no longer carrying the crushing weight of a ungrateful family’s expectations. She was no longer hiding her scars under long sleeves or quiet excuses. The scorched identification tags hung around her neck—a silver reminder of where she had been, and the fire she had survived.
She reached up and touched the smooth metal tags with her thumb.
In the distance, the mountain lights flickered like warm stars against the dark horizon. She felt no lingering anger toward Marcus, no bitterness toward her sister, no regret for the hard choices she had made. They had tried to push her into the dark, unaware that she had spent her entire life learning how to navigate the night.
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Zariah took a deep, full breath of the mountain air, feeling the strength in her lungs, the solid ground beneath her feet, and the clean, unbroken peace in her heart.
She was Zariah Marsh. She had survived the war overseas, she had conquered the war at home, and now, finally, she was standing in the sun—victorious, free, and completely unshakeable.
