The grove was hushed when they returned, the portal closing behind them like a sigh. Lira placed the small shard she had recovered upon the smooth table, its faint glow casting ripples of light across the mossy walls. She leaned closer, studying the way it pulsed when her own breath touched it, as though it recognized the air itself.
Renkai crouched nearby in his fox form, tail flicking with restrained curiosity, but said nothing. His eyes lingered on the shard, alert yet patient.
It was Thalanir who broke the silence. He had been standing in the shadows, in his elven form, his voice was low, almost reverent.
"I remembered something," he said suddenly, and both Lira and Renkai turned toward him. His gaze was fixed not on the shard but on the faint shimmer in the air above it, like mist caught in sunlight.
