Elias Kane clawed free from the river's wratha specter the ridge couldn't claim. Day two unfurled, gray and hushed, a stillness veiling secrets beneath the pines. Woundedknee gnarled, ribs shadowed by painhe lingered in a lean-to's frail embrace, too far from water's whisper, a refuge crumbling under silence's weight. Something stirred closea flicker of fortune, a lifeline snatched from the wild's jawsyet hunger gnawed deeper than he'd admit. He ventured westtoward 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 waterraw, 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 survivala truth the silence might devour

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