Morning arrived quietly, but Charlisa had barely slept.
Several times during the night she had woken and turned toward Kael, listening to the rhythm of his breathing in the dim light of the lantern. Each time he seemed calm, resting easily on the surface.
But once—just once—she had seen him shift suddenly, his shoulders tightening as if a wave of heat had passed through his spine.
He had gone still again moments later.
Pretending it hadn't happened.
Charlisa knew better.
So when dawn came, she didn't ask again whether he wanted to visit the matriarchs.
She simply handed him a cup of barley water and said gently,
"We're going."
Kael accepted the cup with a small sigh.
"You're very determined in the morning."
"You're very stubborn all the time."
He drank the water anyway.
Shyra lay beneath the Red wood tree in the valley.
Its red trunk rose high above the stone walls, branches spreading wide enough to shade most of the circular space beneath it.
Shyra was already there.
She stood beside the tree's roots, leaning lightly on her carved staff, watching a pair of young apprentices carry baskets of herbs toward the storage room.
When she saw Kael and Charlisa enter the courtyard, her gaze sharpened immediately.
She did not greet them with words.
Instead she studied Kael's posture carefully.
"Come here," she said calmly.
Kael stepped forward.
Charlisa remained beside him.
Shyra circled him once, slowly.
Her eyes missed nothing.
"Your wings," she said.
Kael exhaled quietly.
"Borren noticed too."
Shyra's expression didn't change.
"He usually does."
She tapped the ground lightly with her staff.
"Unfold them."
Kael obeyed.
The violet membranes stretched outward, catching the early morning light.
Charlisa had always thought they looked powerful.
Today they seemed… heavier.
Less responsive.
Shyra watched the subtle tremor that ran through the outer edge of one wing.
Then she looked at Kael again.
"Where is the heat?"
He reached back and touched the center of his spine.
"Here."
Shyra nodded once.
"Of course."
Charlisa frowned slightly.
"You already know what it is?"
Before Shyra answered, another figure entered the courtyard.
Yelara.
She carried a small bundle of scrolls under one arm but paused when she noticed the scene.
"Ah," she said softly.
Her gaze moved immediately to Kael's wings.
Then to Shyra.
"It's begun?"
Shyra inclined her head.
"Yes."
Charlisa looked between them.
"Begun what?"
Neither matriarch answered immediately.
Instead Yelara set her scrolls down and approached Kael.
"May I?" she asked.
He nodded.
She placed her hand gently against the center of his upper back.
For a moment she said nothing.
Then she smiled faintly.
"Well," she murmured, "that explains the valley winds lately."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"I'm affecting the weather now?"
"Not intentionally."
Charlisa crossed her arms.
"Would someone please explain?"
Shyra finally looked directly at her.
"What you're witnessing is rare," she said.
"Dangerous?" Charlisa asked immediately.
"No."
The answer came with absolute certainty.
"But it is… significant."
Kael shifted slightly.
"Significant how?"
Shyra rested both hands atop her staff.
"Your body is changing."
"Changing into what?"
Yelara answered this time.
"Into balance."
Kael frowned.
"That sounds suspiciously philosophical."
Shyra's eyes glinted faintly.
"It is also biological."
Charlisa felt a strange ripple of unease.
"Is this normal for your kind?"
"No," Shyra said.
"Then what is it?"
For a moment the courtyard fell silent except for the faint rustle of leaves above them.
Then Shyra said the word quietly.
"Nytheris."
Kael blinked.
"That's not a word I've heard before."
"It wouldn't be," Yelara replied gently.
"It happens perhaps once every few generations."
Charlisa's eyes widened slightly.
"You mean this is rare."
"Yes."
Shyra studied Kael carefully.
"Your wings were always powerful," she said.
"But they were never the final form."
Kael stared at her.
"Final form?"
Yelara smiled faintly.
"You're not losing strength, Kael."
"You're redistributing it."
The heat along his spine flared suddenly as if responding to her words.
Kael inhaled sharply.
Charlisa immediately stepped closer.
"That didn't look comfortable."
Shyra's voice remained calm.
"It will grow stronger for a short time."
"Then what?" Mira asked.
Shyra looked up at the branches of the ancient tree above them.
"Then the wings will leave."
Kael blinked again.
"Leave?"
Yelara nodded.
"They were never meant to stay forever."
Charlisa felt her heart skip.
"You mean they'll disappear?"
"Yes."
Kael let out a quiet breath.
"Well."
Shyra studied his reaction.
"You don't seem surprised."
"I'm more curious than anything."
"Curious?"
"If I lose wings," Kael said dryly, "I assume I gain something else."
Yelara's smile deepened slightly.
"Oh, you will."
Charlisa glanced between them.
"What exactly?"
Shyra tapped her staff once against the stone.
"That," she said calmly, "we will discover very soon."
And for the first time since the strange heat had begun, Charlisa realized something important.
None of the elders looked worried.
They looked… expectant.