Location:Starforge Nexus Pavilion — Isha's study
Date/Time:Mid Voidmarch, 9940 AZI
Realm:Lower Realm (Pavilion sub-space)
Isha emerged on a Temperday afternoon.
The nine tails hung low — not with fear, not with the pressed-close urgency of the day Heiteng had brought the hollow ones' warning. This was different. The golden eyes carried something Jayde had never seen in them before. Not weight. Not exhaustion.
Wonder. And beneath it — relief.
The ancient kitsune crossed the garden without speaking. Past the sleeping wyrmlings. Past Reiko, who lifted his head and tracked Isha with silver eyes that read the essence of the room and went still. Past the seedling, which stopped its contented swaying and went quiet — the silver pulse dimming, the four leaves curling inward, the plant equivalent of holding its breath.
Isha stopped in front of Jayde.
"I found something," he said. "Two letters. One for me. One for you."
He held out an envelope.
