Inside the warm, sheltered circle of titan serpent Zaira's coils, the sleeping bodies of Squad 25 stirred in the morning light. The silver and green lines of the ground array gently faded into the frozen gravel as their spirits returned to their mortal flesh.
Lira opened her misty grey eyes first, taking a deep, sharp breath of the crisp northern mountain air. She sat up quickly, clutching the wooden shyflower pendant against her chest as her heart raced with eager anticipation.
Beside her, Kaka sat up with a loud, theatrical groan, rolling his massive shoulders until his joints popped like dry twigs. "By the northern gods! I told you that frozen gravel was giving my rear a case of frostbite!"
Kiuga opened his eyes with calm, sharp clarity, immediately reaching for his tactical scroll to verify the time. "Temporal alignment was exact. We spent eight minutes in the inner vault, and our physical vessels are completely unharmed."
