Dawn made Stormgate Flats look new. Frost on the grass. Breath like smoke. No banners, no speeches—just the right people in the right places.
Reika handed me tea and a look that said keep it simple. Seraphina lined up her tripods like a small metal forest. Rachel checked clips, checked me, and told me to breathe. Cecilia stood by the engineers' van and quietly moved two cable runs somewhere smarter. The king and queen were already there with signed permits. Tiamat and Kade walked the spine's socket together.
Four kill-switch pylons at the corners. Poles and chalk arcs inside. Royal Guard trucks out on the hard ground. Med tents warm. Captain Vyr took the perimeter without saying more than ten words. At the edge of the Stormgate crew stood a grey-bearded warder and, beside him, Ama Kesh in a coat that still didn't fit.
Up high, Ian drew lanes in the morning air. Lucifer's wing stacked just outside our corridor, posting quiet "clear" marks across the net.
