---
"I never doubted you. Not for a second. Miryam kept watching the sky. Shadeclaw kept training. We all knew. I... I knew. I felt you in my bones."
Tears fell freely from her eyes. Luna added, "I missed you so much."
"I know." Kai replied. "I missed you too."
The link pulsed once more. Then faded. But the warmth remained. Luna stood, wiping her tears and straightening her cloak. Then she smiled. She already knew what was coming.
She turned to Miryam. "He is coming."
Miryam stretched her legs once and nodded without a word. The wind shifted again. This time it did not carry sorrow.
It carried feathers. It carried fire. And it carried a king who was coming home.
(Now. Back to the time when Kai arrives.)
