The Flooded Road at Midnight

Drovane Lowway is the shortest westward passage still wide enough for the full relocation line, until water starts covering both lanes.

Rhyven wants frightened travelers to trust the next step, while Olyss wants them given the facts, including every risk no one can settle yet.

Their first serious fight as a couple lands at the worst moment: vehicles stranded on shrinking dry ground, usable transport already stretched thin, and hundreds choosing what to keep if the road itself does not last.

Getting the community out safely forces Rhyven to accept that steadiness is not the same as certainty, and forces Olyss to see that a public truth can still hurt the person standing with her.

As the floodplain closes in, their relationship is pressed by the same question facing the convoy: what still holds after the planned path is gone.