Selena woke to find Dante already awake, staring up at the night sky with an expression she couldn't immediately read. Through their bond, she felt his unease—not alarm exactly, but deep disquiet, like someone who had noticed something wrong but couldn't quite articulate what.
"What is it?" she asked, sitting up and following his gaze upward.
"Listen," Dante said quietly. "Not with your ears. With the eternal flame. Listen to the sky."
Selena reached out with her awareness, extending her consciousness through the eternal flame, letting it touch the world beyond their small camp. At first, she felt only the familiar patterns—the struggling communities, the growing life, the transformed marrow essence providing foundation in Ashborne. But as she extended further, higher, touching the boundaries where atmosphere met void, she heard it.
Whispers.
