Morning came in the Arondale mountain range in the same way it had always arrived. With air that was crisp, thin, and biting.
After a few minutes of staring at the canvas above his head, Ren rose quietly from the tent, careful not to disturb Lilith.
She lay still beside him, her breathing soft and rhythmic. He paused for a second to stare at her, smiling softly.
"Beautiful." He whispered to himself.
With that said, he ducked out of the tent flap and stretched his limbs with a groan, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Good morning, world."
He stood where he was, his gaze turning eastward, to where the horizon was beginning to glow. He could feel it again, deeper in the mountain range.
That same subtle heat.
It wasn't the warmth of the sun, nor the warmth of the fire.
It was something much more insidious. Something that sank way deeper beneath the skin. A thread of energy that tingled at the edge of his awareness, humming inside his soul.
