The morning after the fall of the Obsidian Keep came with a grey sky.
Nathan woke in a TCA field camp a few miles from the fortress, wrapped in a standard-issue thermal blanket with his three summons in their small forms curled around him. Mirko was pressed against his chest, her green fur warm and soft. Kuro was a black shape near his shoulder, her breathing slow and steady. Shiro had claimed the space near his head, her orange-red fur bright against the grey blanket.
For a long moment, he simply lay there, listening to the quiet. The constant rumble of collapsing Towers had faded during the night. The sky, visible through the tent's open flap, was still red, but the color had softened... more ember than blood. The Cleansing in the eastern sector was over, or close enough.
Valerie's voice crackled through his comm crystal, sharp and alert despite the early hour. "Cross. Wake your party. Briefing in ten minutes."
