Elias Kane clawed free from the river's wrath?a specter the ridge couldn't claim. Day two unfurled, gray and hushed, a stillness veiling secrets beneath the pines. Wounded?knee gnarled, ribs shadowed by pain?he lingered in a lean-to's frail embrace, too far from water's whisper, a refuge crumbling under silence's weight. Something stirred close?a flicker of fortune, a lifeline snatched from the wild's jaws?yet hunger gnawed deeper than he'd admit. He ventured west?toward the river's unseen pulse, through mist and cedar ghosts, chasing a shadow of permanence, a refuge unnamed. No canteen, just a pot too heavy for his broken stride and a hide curing in the dark, its promise distant. Thirst drew him to water?raw, untested, a bargain with the unknown he couldn't refuse. What haunts him stays buried, a secret the ridge cradles close.

In this shrouded tangle of man and wild, Elias seeks more than survival?a truth the silence might devour.