Kael stepped forward, bowing one knee.
"Matriarch. The tower awakened for him. We all witnessed it."
"I know," she said.
Her voice was soft, but it cut the air like a blade.
"The forest remembers the vibration."
Her silver gaze returned to Lindarion.
"What did it show you?"
Lindarion answered without hesitation.
"Something is coming from the south. Something ancient. Something hungry."
A ripple of tension went through the crowd.
Dark elves, for all their pride, rarely allowed fear to show—
but this wasn't fear.
This was confirmation of a dread they had already sensed.
The Matriarch lifted her chin slightly.
"And it chose you to witness this warning?"
"It tested me," Lindarion corrected.
"It measured my resonance. And it decided I was… compatible."
A flicker crossed the Matriarch's eyes.
Not alarm—
but understanding.
"Then you have my sympathy," she murmured.
"For the towers do not test without reason."
Her gaze hardened.
"And they do not choose lightly."
