*Keeper of the Horizon*

Her name was Tala, meaning "wolf," and like her namesake, she watched over her people with fierce devotion. Standing high above the valley her ancestors once crossed, her eyes scanned the shifting light of dusk for signs—of change, of return, of memory. The beadwork on her garment told stories of survival, of battles endured, and the strength of the women before her. With the wind threading through her hair and the land bathed in the glow of twilight, Tala became more than a figure of the present—she was history alive, a sentinel for generations yet to rise.