It had been many years since anyone last visited Shadow’s cabin, resting quietly among the trees.

Time moved differently there, unhurried and gentle, and Shadow had grown used to the steady rhythm of solitude. Decades of living alone had taught him how to survive with patience rather than force—how to listen to the land, how to take only what he needed, and how to trust his instincts.

*The land around the cabin reflected that balance. A small farm lay just beyond the porch, its crops tended with care and consistency.

*Nearby, a simple wooden pen held chickens and other poultry he had gathered over time, their soft clucks a familiar, comforting sound. A short walk away stood an old barn, sturdy and calm, where goats and sheep rested—animals he had found while foraging or hunting and chose to keep rather than leave behind.

Together, the cabin and its surroundings formed a quiet, self-sustaining world, peaceful and undisturbed.

He was foraging around for scraps of metal or trash the cities dumped into the lakes and rivers when he heard footsteps in the distance. He bristled as it got closer