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Not bright like torches. Not harsh like caster fire. A soft, molten gold radiance pulsed from behind the heavy curtain that separated the main nursery from the inner egg chamber where Miryam rested. It flickered in time with the humming, each flash a heartbeat.
Kai stopped just outside and put one hand on the wall, steadying himself.
He remembered another time, not so long ago, when he had come down here expecting to see a strange little wyrmling and had instead found a fierce, bright creature who had wormed herself into his soul with terrifying efficiency. He remembered the first time she had called him Papa, not like a child clinging to a parent but like someone trying on a word they had never needed before and finding it fit too well.
The humming swelled. He pushed the curtain aside. The egg chamber glowed.
