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One hour earlier…
Luna stood at the highest ledge of Monarch Mountain, her arms folded tightly beneath her chest. Her silver hair danced in the thin air, catching strands of light from the fading moon. The breeze was sharp, clean, and high with altitude, but it did nothing to shake the heaviness in her chest.
Her long rabbit ears twitched every few seconds, straining to catch the faintest shift of aura. A heartbeat. A whisper. Anything familiar.
Nothing. It was just wind.
Miryam rested nearby, curled atop a sun kissed and warmed boulder like a silent empress. She was larger now, about the size of a small cat, stretched out with elegant, lazy grace. Her scales shimmered faintly, a blend of dull sand and molten gold, the color of buried treasure and quiet strength. Two tiny horns poked back from her head, still growing tucked neatly across her head scales.
Her golden eyes were half lidded, the look of someone who had inherited an empire before she learned how to fully yawn.
