Kael climbed the attic ladder again, muscles stiff from yesterday’s work. The space was familiar, but familiarity had a way of hiding just how disorderly it really was.

  Broken beams leaned like tired skeletons, rubble cluttered the corners, and the faint smell of damp stone and old dust clung to everything.

  Shafts of light slanted through the narrow openings in the wall, illuminating motes of floating dust like tiny stars suspended in a gray haze.

  Elin’s voice called up from below.“Still up there? You’re going to make a chimney out of yourself if you keep at it.”

  Kael paused on the ladder, brushing a sleeve across his sweat- and dust-streaked face. “I’m trying to make it usable.”

  “You’ve got too much energy for one day,” she said, her voice teasing but calm. “Do you want me to stop you or just watch you fall?”

  “Neither,” Kael muttered. “I want it done.”

  Nysa stood nearby, her posture relaxed but watchful. She had a small sack of debris in her hands but didn’t climb up herself.Instead, she offered guidance in her quiet, precise way:“Start from the edges. Don’t shift too much weight toward the center. Loose stones there will come down on you.”

  Kael grunted, moving carefully along the worn attic floor. Step by step, he pushed rubble toward the ladder, lowering pieces down for Elin to catch.

  Some of the old wood splintered under his hands, scratching his palms despite the cloth he’d wrapped around them.

  Dust fell in clouds with every movement, and the air grew thick with it, making him cough more than once.

  Ash padded silently beneath the ladder, ears flicking with every scraping noise. He didn’t bark or growl, but the subtle alertness in his posture reminded Kael that something about the forest always watched even here, inside the tower.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  Halfway through, Kael paused, leaning against a beam to catch his breath. The ache in his shoulders and lower back reminded him how much work even “small” progress demanded. Elin looked up at him from below, holding a sack of broken wood.“You’re not going to die, are you?” she asked, eyebrow raised.

  “Not yet,” he said with a weak grin.

  “You’re lucky the ladder is sturdier than your spine,” she teased, shaking her head.

  Nysa handed him another piece of debris, her movement effortless. “Watch the balance of your weight when you lean,” she said. “It’s easy to twist an ankle here.”

  Kael nodded, realizing she didn’t need to physically help; her advice alone made a difference.

  He moved more deliberately, testing each step, shifting his weight carefully, lowering the debris gently.

  Slowly, the attic began to feel more open. Clearer. Usable.

  By the time the sun had dipped below the trees, Kael had cleared the center of the attic. A small corner near the beams could store supplies, another section could hold tools and scraps. He even managed to carve a slight indentation along one wall a makeshift platform for sitting or resting. Ash wandered over, sniffing the edges and finally settling near the ladder, as if claiming the new, orderly space as his own.

  Kael leaned back against a beam, panting, muscles trembling. The attic wasn’t perfect. Far from it. But it was functional. For the first time, he could imagine actually using it without tripping over rubble or having loose beams fall.

  Elin’s voice called up again, softer this time. “Better?”

  “Much,” he admitted, still catching his breath.

  Nysa nodded. “It will be easier to keep it that way once the foundation is stable. The space doesn’t care about effort, only consistency.”

  Kael let the words settle, staring at the attic from below the narrow beams. He thought about how much work remained smoothing the stone, carving platforms, patching cracks. The tower was no longer just a refuge from the rain. It was a project, a home, and a responsibility.

  Outside, the forest pressed close. Shadows shifted. Something moved just beyond the line of sight, subtle and careful. Ash’s ears twitched, his body stiffening as if he could sense it before Kael could. Kael’s stomach tightened, a small prickle of unease crawling up his spine.

  The attic, cleared and organized, was a small victory. Dust lingered in the air, muscles ached, and the forest waited. But for now, the tower was theirs, and that mattered more than anything.