Location:Hidden Valley, Eastern Ranges — dormant Luminari stone ring
Date/Time:Mid Frostforge, 9939 AZI — late afternoon
Realm:Lower Realm
The grass moved gently under a low wind.
It carried warmth from the stones at the valley's centre. The faint mineral tang of the Luminari ring. A trace of woodsmoke from the men's fire across the clearing.
It should have felt peaceful.
A pause between roads. A place where travellers stopped, ate, and moved on.
Instead, it felt like something holding its breath.
Across the grass, the three brothers were already moving.
Slow. Measured. Not aggressive yet.
Testing.
The kind of approach a man used when he was not sure whether the people he was walking toward were prey, threat, or someone to share a fire with — and was prepared to find out which by the way they reacted to him.
Yinglong had warned her about that, back at the fish-cake stall two stops ago. They watch how you react first.
