---
They shifted positions slowly. Vel activated a soft defensive aura veil, coating the group in a faint shimmer that blended them against Alka's plumage. The wind shifted again. The presence above them moved further eastward.
And then it was gone. Not flying away. Not vanishing in a blaze. Just... gone. Like it had folded itself out of existence.
Azhara broke the silence. "That was creepy."
The silence that followed Azhara's last mocking wave should have been comforting. But it lingered too long, stretched like a taut string waiting to snap. The wind, once playful, now trembled unnaturally. The air felt wrong, thicker, colder, quieter than it should have been. Every instinct screamed that something was watching.
Alka's wings shifted. Her feathers twitched as though a storm were building far above. Her head cocked to the left, her eyes narrowing on the sky.
